The Dragon's Sanctuary Book One: Forest Of Dragons
by TimeWolfWarrior
Summary: Astrid and Luka are two people from a dragon loving village. One day, they are chased from their homes and start a Dragon's Sanctuary. Join these two trainers and their many dragons as they make their path! This is sort of a Minecraft adventure. It has traits of Minecraft but it's not a complete Minecraft story. The first chapter is just a word index, for reference.
1. Word index

Word index:

HP—Hit Points; life

XP, or EXP—Experience points; levels

TP—teleport; used by dogs, cats, dragons and users.

Minecraft term index:

Stack up—jump and place a block underneath you to raise yourself higher.

Inventory—extra place to keep stuff instead of in the hot bar.

Crafting—make an item like putting four planks of wood in a 2x2 square to make a crafting table, or harder items, which require a crafting table.

Crafting table—used to make large objects, likes swords, pickaxes, shovels, hoes, bows and arrows +more.

Mob—name for every creature other than players in the game. Mobs can be broken into three groups: Hostile, Neutral and Peaceful. _Hostile mobs_ are the monsters, like creepers, zombies, skeletons, blazes and ghasts. (Also the killer bunny, but that has a 1 in 100 chance of spawning in, so not really mentioned.) _Neutral mobs_ are creatures that don't attack you unless provoked. Zombie Pig-men, wolves, endermen and (if you have the mod) dragons fall into this category, with endermen being the easiest to provoke. You have to look at an enderman from the upper legs up to cause it to become angry, or you can attack it. Wolves are a little harder to provoke since you have to attack them, but when one gets angry, all the others in the pack get angry and can swarm you, which isn't good. Dragons are the same, except the whole group of them won't attack you. (Unless you attack their trainer; that's a whole other story!) Zombie Pig-men are quite the same as wolves, except they are far more lethal. For one thing, if you attack a zombie pig-man, all the others in the area will become angry, even if you move from that area, because the angry pig-men will chase you and set off the others. Second, they wield gold swords. Gold swords are the second worse sword in the game, but it's still a sword. Third, pig-men are faster than a player at a normal walk. Not quite as fast as a sprinting player, but baby zombie pig-men are faster than a sprinting player. Baby pig-men also wield gold swords. Spiders are a special case. During the day, they are peaceful unless attacked or being controlled by a skeleton (provided the skeleton has a helmet). In light levels of 7 or below, (or at night or in a cave), they will attack you. _Peaceful mobs_ are creatures that never attack you, even if you attack them. Tamed dragons, if you are their trainer, dogs, after you tame them from wolves, ocelots, cats (tamed from ocelots from fish), cows, horses, donkeys, sheep, pigs, chickens and bunnies fall into this category.

Enchantments:

Silk touch—useable only on a pickaxe (?) Use a silk touch pickaxe on glass, stained glass, sea lanterns, glowstone, ice and packed ice (add more later) to break it and get the block to use instead of just breaking the block.


	2. Proulouge

Prologue

"Astrid, Luka, you must follow me, and hurry!"

"Mina? What's wrong?" Astrid asked as she leaped to her feet.

Crashing and screams rent the air, and flames leaped up from the sky.

"Outlanders are attacking, aren't they?" Luka asked hoarsely.

The raging, blood-curdling cry of an Outlander answered him. Astrid shuddered in fear. "Where are we going?" She called to Mina.

Mina dropped back to run in between Astrid and Luka. "We're going to the vault. Your ceremony was set for tomorrow, and you are the only two who are ready for dragons in the entire village. You two will get your eggs, saddles and nametags and then flee from here, to find some place far, far away from Outlanders." She explained.

"Just us?! Can't everyone else flee too?!" Luka cried.

"The only way we could all get out was to fly on a dragon, but the Outlanders know how to track dragons. They'd hunt relentlessly until they have exterminated the whole village." Mina explained. "Outlanders, however, can't track a human. They only know how to track dragons. But if we leave in a group, or if the whole village were to flee, the Outlanders would split up and hunt us down."

Astrid stumbled as she figured out what Mina was saying. Mina steadied her quickly. "You're saying that Luka and I can keep our village's legacy alive since we have dragons ready for us." She said. "And since our dragons haven't hatched, we can flee and the Outlanders won't find us."

Mina nodded. "Exactly."

Now it was Luka's turn to stumble. Mina steadied him quickly and then sprinted on; taking a roundabout path to the shrine that contained the vault for new dragon trainer's supplies; Astrid and Luka hot on her heels. Screams rent the air; all the while the Outlanders screeching their cry at the top of their lungs.

"No!" Luka cried suddenly. He swerved to one side, but Astrid grabbed him quickly.

"No, Luka! We have to follow Mina!" She hissed.

Luka writhed in her grasp. Looking over his shoulder, she saw what filled him with such pain. His little six year old sister, whom he had a very close bond with, was lying in front of a house with half a dozen arrows in her back. As Astrid and Luka tussled, an Outlander came up behind Luka's sister, jeering at her as she hoarsely begged to be spared. The Outlander cackled something and drew his sword. Astrid swung behind another house with Luka still caught in her grip just before the Outlander picked up the little girl.

"Lilac… Why…" Luka whimpered as Lilac screamed.

"Luka…" Astrid murmured in sympathy. "Come on, we have to go."

He didn't budge. Astrid grabbed his arm and tugged him after her. Finally Luka shook his head and freed his arm from Astrid's hand. They ran on, finally catching up to Mina.

"There you guys are! I was beginning to worry." Mina whispered.

"Sorry, we got a little… held up." Astrid murmured with a quick glance at Luka.

Mina looked Astrid up and down and then opened her mouth to say something. Catching the look on Luka's face, she closed her mouth with a snap and turned to open the vault. Signaling to the other two to hide, she ducked into the vault. Astrid dived into one of the hedges lining the vault, and after a moments hesitation, Luka dived into the one opposite her.

After a tense couple minutes, Mina reappeared, carrying two bags. Astrid and Luka emerged from the hedge and Mina thrust the bags into their arms.

"These bags contain your dragon eggs, saddles, nametags and fish. I'm afraid that this is all the time you will have. Stick together. Please. You have more chance of survival if you stay together. Run now, do not come back for anything, and above all else, do not run or turn back, no matter what you hear!"

Footsteps suddenly sounded through the night as they came toward the trio.

"Hurry!" Mina hissed.

Astrid and Luka leaped through the hedge and raced into the shadows, just before a duo of Outlanders appeared at the shrine. Each stumbled as they heard Mina shriek, but they supported each other and raced on, quickly disappearing into the growing fog.


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter One is here! As there are no reviews to reply to as of yet, I don't have much to say. I do want to point out that this is rather old, so my writing style has changed. If the first 8-ish chapters of Dragon's Sanctuary seems different from Rosestar's Rise and Turtle Warriors (y'know, besides the obvious reasons) it's because it's older. Anyway, more of an introductory chapter. Dragon's Sanctuary might seem a bit dull in the beginning but I promise, it picks up. Enough rambling from me! Here we go!**

* * *

Chapter 1

 _One year later…_

The silent night was broken by nothing. A silent being traversed the forest hills, never making a sound as it dropped from level to level. Hissing sounded above it, on its right, a deep wailing moan, its left, a rattling, like bones clattering down a hole. The being ignored everything, and the other beings gave it a wide berth if they passed by it, fearing the terrible explosion that would likely kill them all if they made it angry. The creeper kept going, its mottled green body showing in the moonlight. On it walked, never noticing the hole directly in front of it until it was falling into it.

"Astrid that was a great idea. We've gotten so many supplies out of this! Including a lot of food for us both." Luka commented as a creeper fell through the hole in the roof.

"Well, I figured we needed to see what time of day it was without burdening us with doors, and we might as well have turned this into a monster/animal farm." Astrid shrugged.

Luka munched on a piece of pork, watching the hole for any other mobs. "We need to figure out something to block the tunnel though." He said after a minute.

"I'd thought glass, but I don't think I have enough sand, and since we don't have a _Silk Touch_ pickaxe, we can't get the glass back. That seems like a waste to me." Astrid mumbled her mouth full.

Luke nodded in agreement. Both looked up sharply as quick, tiny feet pattered on the ground above them, and a high pitched moaning wail sounded through the night.

"Baby zombie!" Astrid grunted. She pushed herself to her feet and drew her sword, Luka doing the same.

"Let's hope this one falls straight down!" Luka grumbled.

Astrid grunted her agreement and watched the hole. The pitter-patter of the baby zombie's feet increased.

"It's running around the hole." Astrid groaned. "Just fall in already!"

The baby zombie finally found its way into the hole. Except, it managed to get out into the little cave.

"Dang! Not again!" Luka exclaimed as the baby zombie leaped for his face.

Astrid leaped forward and started slashing at it with her sword. The iron quickly took half its HP, but the baby zombie turned on her quickly.

"Ack!" Astrid yelped as the zombie leaped for her face.

Luka struck out with his sword, killing the zombie in one hit. "You ok?" He asked Astrid.

"I'm good. You?"

"Same."

Wailing moans drifted down to them as zombies made their way to their hideout.

"Of course, now every zombie within three miles is heading our way." Astrid grunted. "Just the company I wanted!" she finished sarcastically.

Two more baby zombies fell into the hole, one of them falling down the pit. Luka yelped as the zombie struck out at him, and then quickly slashed at it. Astrid leaped from behind, earning a good smack across her leg in the process. She grunted and hit the zombie again, killing it. More zombies and baby zombies could be heard coming their way.

"Make some glass! Make some glass!" Luka exclaimed franticly, his voice starting to go shrill.

Astrid turned to their two furnaces and threw six pieces of glass in each. Turning back, she watched the hole, eagerly hoping no more baby zombies would tumble in. Luka started down the rough staircase to the bottom of the pit to collect the spoils while Astrid pulled out two pieces of glass from each furnace and started to put it around the hole to block the mobs in. After a moment, she pulled out four more and placed them on top of the original glass blocks, fencing it in a little more. She jumped as a pig tumbled down the pit, and she heard Luka's shout of surprise as the pig landed next to him. Astrid then pulled out the final four blocks and put them around hole in the roof.

"I don't have enough sand!" She grumbled to herself.

Another baby zombie came down the hole, managing to get on top of the barrier, and launched itself at Astrid. So absorbed with fighting the zombie, she didn't notice the creeper fall down the pit until she heard the explosion. Gasping, she killed the zombie and raced to the new barrier.

"Luka? Luka!" She called, panic rising in her chest.

 _Please let him be ok!_ She though franticly.

She raced down the stairs, calling her friends name. Finally she heard a faint, hoarse, "I'm ok! I have half a heart left, but I'm ok."

"Luka!" Astrid cried, finding him pressed against the wall, looking really shaken.

"Why am I not healing…?" He wondered out loud. "Oh! Ha, I'm hungry, that's why." He quickly ate a piece of pork, and finally started to heal.

Astrid, after a minute, hugged him fiercly, "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I was getting attacked and didn't notice the creeper!"

He hugged her back. "It's fine. The creeper actually didn't do that much to me, thanks to the iron armor. I jumped back to avoid the explosion and accidentally jumped off the stairs. Thankfully, I was able to get to this point. Any further and I'd have died from the fall damage. And think about it: it's not like I'd be dead forever. I'd respawn."

Astrid pulled away. "Yeah, but back home! Outlanders could still be there, and you'd have to travel for a year to find me again, if you can even remember our route!"

Luka paused for a minute and then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I can't remember the route. I suppose you have a right to worry. But don't kick yourself too hard."

He led the way back up the stairs, emerging to find that dawn was growing.

"Time to go." Astrid said. "I guess I shouldn't have put the glass there… I'll leave it. No sense in breaking it if we can't get the blocks back."

Luka nodded and the duo gathered their supplies from the chests, grabbed the coal and the furnaces, and took the dirt covering the doorway out. Then they started on, their even pace quickly turning to a sprint as baby zombies raced towards them.

"Why don't they burn in the sun like grown zombies?!" Luka complained.

"It would be nice, but for now, run!" Astrid answered.

* * *

 **Kind of more of a humors chapter and an introductory. I personally hate baby zombies XD Oh yeah! I'm going to start Questions of the Day and answers to the questions!**

 **QotD: Which is your favorite mob you like to fight?**


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2, here we come!**

* * *

Chapter 2

Astrid sat on the floor and leaned against the wall of the hidey-hole, closing her eyes. Four days had passed. Four more long, tiring days of travel, fighting and running, with at least three suitable spots for their home that Astrid walked away from. She sighed and opened one eye to look at Luka.

 _Is he mad at me, I wonder?_ She thought. _I mean, he's liked all the places we've found, and yet I keep making our journey longer because I don't like any of them._ Then a tiny voice in the back of her mind whispered, _What if I have to continue on alone?_

"You ok, Astrid?" Luka said suddenly.

"Huh?! Oh yeah, fine! Just tired." She answered half truthfully.

Luka looked at her closely, obviously telling something was up, but he didn't press. Astrid took a deep breath and let it out silently.

"Luka…?" She started. "Why are you still traveling with me?"

Luka glanced at her startled. "Well…" He said slowly. "About a quarter of it is because Mina asked us to stay together. No, make it an eighth. The other is because you're my best friend. And we need each other, I mean, how many close calls have we gone through that if it'd just been one of us, we'd be dead?"

Astrid paused. "Too many to count." She finally answered.

"Right." Luka nodded. He gave her a searching look. "What's this about anyways?"

Astrid dropped her gaze to her hands. "I've made our journey longer than it could be, because none of the places we've found for a village… doesn't speak to me, I guess is how to put it."

Luka sighed. "I've felt the same way, actually, which is why I've never put up a fight when you walk away. The places we've found… just don't feel like home." He said quietly.

Astrid looked up at him. "That's exactly what I felt with them!" She paused and then asked the question that had been on her mind for a while. "Will we ever find a home?"

"We will. We just have to keep going. Some place will be right for us."

"I hope your right…" Astrid said quietly.

"You know, let's go right now, and find that place. I mean, we have nothing better to do, so we might as well travel." Luka said as he got to his feet, pulling the dark-haired girl up with him.

"You know, that sounds like a much better idea!" Astrid said as she started gathering her things.

As they dug the dirt blocks out of the doorway, an arrow streaked at them, following the line of Astrid's cheekbone as it passed. Astrid yelped as pain flared along her cheek, and then she was running forward, blood dripping down the side of her face, sword flashing in the moonlight as she sought out the skeleton. With Luka and Astrid tag teaming it, the skeleton stood no chance, and was quickly killed, leaving behind some bones and arrows. Luka picked them up as Astrid felt the wound with her thumb.

"You good?" Luka asked.

"Urgh… Yeah, I'm ok. It's not deep; more of a scratch." Astrid grunted as she wiped her face mostly clean with the back of her hand. "If we find a river or a waterfall, I'll wash the rest of it off then."

Moans and rattles filled the air as mobs came their way. Luka and Astrid leaped forward, only to swerve as a creeper came in front of them. Turning back on their original course, they loped on, coming to a river by the time the moon was at its height. Astrid washed her hand and her face, and then gingerly and gently washed the wound.

"Missed a spot." Luka said, already dipping his hand in the river to wash it off.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it.

They continued on, coming to forest hills and they began weaving amongst the trees, keeping an eye out for monsters. Sudden barks made them skid to a halt and look around.

"There!" Astrid pointed to a pack of wolves.

Luka pulled out some bones from his inventory. "Let's tame them!"

Astrid pulled out some bones and then followed Luka up to the wolves. A she-wolf padded past her and then stopped, turning to look at Astrid with her head cocked. Astrid fed the wolf a bone and the wolf suddenly sat down, with a red orange collar around her neck.

"Got one!" Luka and Astrid said simultaneously.

"Let's get another." Luka said, turning to the wolf closest to him.

Finally, they both had tamed the whole pack. Two wolves were Luka's and two were Astrid's.

"We should name them." Astrid said, stroking her she-wolf's head. The male butted her other leg, and she reached over to pet him too.

"But what?" Luka asked.

"Uh… Let's think on that while we travel."

Luka nodded in agreement and started off, his dogs following close behind. Astrid leaped after him, her dogs following.

"Oh boy." Luka said, skidding to a halt.

"What?" Astrid asked as she came up.

"Redwood Tagia. It's night. That means monsters galore."

Astrid looked at the dogs. "Good thing we tamed some dogs!"

"No kidding!" Luka paused. "Camp out or keep going?"

"Keep going." Astrid said after a minute.

Luka nodded and started down the slope his dogs following him with happy barks. Astrid walked along at Luka's side, all their dogs occasionally running ahead of them. As they entered the Tagia, they instantly heard skeletons. The dogs barked and leaped at the skeletons.

"Oh that never gets old!" Astrid laughed as the skeletons ran from the dogs. "Let's help them out!"

As the night wore on, more and more mobs came. Zombies, spiders, even endermen.

"Ahh!" Astrid shouted as she ran into a creeper. She ran backwards, but was stopped as she ran into some mossy cobble. The creeper exploded, only taking a quarter of her health.

"Whew." Astrid sighed. She looked around for her dogs, sighing in relief as she realized they were off chasing skeletons.

As she ran forward, climbing over more mossy cobble, she landed on another creeper, which she was barley able to avoid the explosion by scrambling backward.

"Astrid!" Luka called.

"Over here!"

Luka leaped around the mossy cobble. "You ok? I heard your shout and then two explosions."

"Fine. I just ran into two creepers, but not two together. The first one only caught a quarter of my health, and the second I missed getting any damage."

Three skeletons raced by, Astrid's she-wolf hot on their heels. She quickly finished them off and turned for more prey. Finding it in two zombies fighting Astrid, she raced off to help the other dogs.

"We have to get out of here!" Luka shouted. "This is crazy!"

"Yes, we need to go! Our dogs will TP to us!" Astrid shouted over her shoulder. As she spoke, her dogs suddenly appeared behind her, and they fought with her as she weaved through the trees. Luka sprinted to her shoulder and his dogs' teleported to him, instantly starting to fight for him. As dawn started to break, they finally made it out of the Tagia into a snow forest.

"Eh. Better than a Tagia, at least." Astrid grumbled.

"Let's rest here." Luka suggested.

Astrid was already pulling out some dirt blocks from her inventory. Together, Luka and Astrid built a little dirt hut between two trees. Whistling to their dogs to come in, they blocked the doorway with dirt and put a little hole in the ceiling.

"What are we going to do about spiders?" Astrid asked.

"I've got an idea. Wait here." Luka said as he started to stack up to the roof. Astrid placed a torch on the wall as the light was cut off. Eventually, Luka came back down, digging the blocks underneath him away with his shovel.

"Stack up and see what you think." Luka motioned to the hole.

Astrid stacked up and out of the hole and noticed the chimney like structure around the hole. Stacking up to the top, she saw the blocks one out from the sides to prevent spiders from getting up. Using her hand, she dug down into the room.

"It looks nice." She answered Luka as he asked what she thought.

After a pause which consisted of them eating and feeding their dogs, they heard the hissing of a spider and the _click-clack, click-clack_ of its legs as it walked. Hearing it climb the side of the hut, and then the chimney, all the beings in the hut watched the hole carefully.

"The spider can't get in." Luka said triumphantly.

"Good." Astrid muttered. "Oh yeah! I have names for my dogs. How about you?"

"Yep!"

"Ok, you go first."

Luka paused. "Ok, the male is Loyal and the she-wolf is Destiny."

"Ooo, good ones. Ok mine… The she-wolf is Brave and the male is Wise."

"I like those."

Brave let out a happy bark, followed closely by the others. The sound of the spider getting hurt floated down the tunnel, followed by its dying hiss.

"Spider suffocated." Luka laughed.

Astrid laughed with him and then turned to watch the sky through the hole.

* * *

 **Fun fact: Astrid's incident with the creepers actually happened to me in Minecraft. I was so happy to actually get to share that slightly funny experience with others!**

 **QotD: Which mob is your favorite to fight?**


	5. Chapter 3

**This chapter is a bit longer. And our two dragon lovers finally find their home! Took 'em long enough... :chuckle:**

 **Review Replies:**

 **SiRoLoL:** **Thanks! This is the first constructive criticism I've gotten! This story is actually older than my other two on FanFiction, so it's not as good character wise. I'll probably do a re-write of this one.**

 **I'm glad you like them :) And, without giving tons away, the Outlanders do come back. I just don't know when _'**

 **Yeah... It started off hectic and then slowed down. I think Chapter 8 or 9 is when their first big fight is, except, I haven't finish the former or started the latter...**

 **I agree. I'm not to proud of that. Again, older story.**

 **Thank you! There will be a new chapter posted for Christmas!**

 **Right? :laughs:**

 **StressofWriting: I'm glad you're liking it so far!**

 **That's kind of me in Minecraft. I like to leave ASAP, so Luka and Astrid kind of got that from me... I'm glad you think it makes it more fun to read :)**

 **We shall see... :3**

 **Thanks!**

 **Have a happy holiday too!**

 **Here we go with Chapter 3!**

* * *

Chapter 3

"Luka, what do you see?" Astrid called.

Luka was in a tree scouting out to see how large this snow forest was.

"Swamp to the north east…" He called back. "Oh! Desert! I see a desert!" he called, jumping up and down.

In his excitement, he accidently jumped off the tree.

"Ouch. My fault." He groaned.

Astrid chuckled. "Hopefully we can find a village or maybe a desert temple. We'd get great stuff from a temple."

"No kidding." Luka said, rubbing his leg. "Let's go. Oh, there's a river cutting through it."

They told their dogs to sit up, and then they started forward, taking it at an easy pace. As they entered the desert from the water, they instantly felt the heat flow over them in wave after wave. After a while, they came to a hill rearing out of the desert.

"Climb and look around?" Luka asked absently as he started to give the dogs some water.

"Yeah." Astrid muttered, doing the same.

After the dogs drank their fill, Astrid and Luka each took a drink and then put the water away, tucking it carefully way from the sun. Starting up the hill, Astrid stopped and groaned.

"Parkour." She sighed.

"Aww man. I'm terrible at parkour!" Luka groaned.

"I know, but it's either that or dig into this hill, which will take forever since it's mostly sand."

"And monsters love deserts. I get it. Ok, parkour it is." He glanced at the dogs. "At least they can teleport to us!"

Astrid chuckled in agreement and started leaping from one sand block to the next.

"Ooo, sandstone." Luka said randomly. "Want to take some?"

"Eh. We can make sandstone easily, and we can always come back and get some before we leave this area. I'd say take a lot of sand; at least the remainder of your most worn out shovel." Astrid said, looking around below her to try and spot her friend.

"Ok, that works for me." He paused, and Astrid saw a glint in the sunlight as he drew his shovel. "Actually…" he said, pausing again, "I am _not_ digging sand out where I'm at. I do that and I'm probably going back all the way down the hill. Not to mention get rid of a stepping block so…" he finished, trailing off.

Luka leaped up further, missing Astrid's nod of agreement. Astrid leaped up, finally making it to the top of the hill. Luka came up behind her a minute later, and then their dogs teleported to them. Both of them looked around, trying to see farther ahead. Cactus dotted the sand, green standing out amongst the yellow-white. Dead bushes sat randomly amongst the sand, adding brown to the colors.

"Wait, what's that?" Astrid asked at the same time Luka pointed and asked, "What's that?"

Looking at each other and nodding, they started down the slope, the climb down faster then the one up. Sprinting on towards the building they'd seen in the distance, they eventually crested a smaller hill and they let out matching cries of excitement as they saw part of a building sticking out of another sand dune.

"Desert temple! Yeah buddy!" Astrid cried, starting forward.

"Wait, Astrid, its getting dark." Luka said, grabbing her arm and nodding to the sun that was just starting to kiss the horizon.  
"Oh boy, I didn't even notice…"

"Let's both go in and then one of us stays on watch and the other goes into the treasure chamber." Luka said. "No wait, what if a monster pushes whoever is on guard into the hole or if a monster falls in?! They'd walk on the pressure plate and blow us all to smithereens!"

Astrid paused. "Whoever goes down will dig down and get rid of all the TNT, so if any monster falls in, we're ok."

"Works for me!" Luka grunted, starting forward.

They made it there as half the sun was still on the horizon.

"Managed to get some blocks of sandstone." Luka joked as he opened up a doorway.

"Oh? How many?" Astrid teased, knowing full well how many blocks he'd gotten.

"Two."

Astrid punched his shoulder lightly and softly. "C'mon." Turning to Brave and Wise, she pointed to them and said, "Stay."

Luka did the same with Loyal and Destiny. Going through the gap, they emerged into one of the towers. Moans floated to them over the still dark air. Zombies suddenly poured out from one of the doors.

"Oh man!" Luka cried, leaping forward, Astrid following close behind.

"It's like a hoard!" Astrid grunted as more mobs filled in.

"Yeah, a hoard of zombies and skeletons!" Luka complained.

Astrid killed another skeleton and turned on a zombie trying to come behind Luka. "They were probably hiding from the sun!"

Luka nodded quickly, too focused on dodging arrows to say anything. Astrid leaped to help him, killing monsters as quickly as she could. When the moon was close to dipping below the horizon, they finally killed all the monsters.

"Whew. That was crazy!" Astrid sighed.

"No kidding." Luka grumbled.

Astrid looked at him and barely suppressed a laugh. Luka glanced at her. "What?"

"You look like a pin cushion." She said, the laugh starting to escape.

Luka laughed. "Yeah so do you."

Astrid laughed and made her way into the main room. Digging the blocks covering the hole up, she crouched and crept forward.

"Blocks don't activate the pressure plate, right?" Astrid asked a slight note of panic in her voice.

"No. It's a stone pressure plate, right?" Luka asked, crouching and creeping forward.

"Yep."

"Blocks won't then. If it was wood, I'd worry a bit more…"

"Who goes down?" Astrid asked.

"You go. I'll keep watch." Luka answered.

"Ok."

Astrid moved to a corner and dug straight down, excitement bubbling in her chest.

 _I can't wait to open those chests and find out what's in them!_ She though excitedly.

Finally, she made it to the chamber. Astrid instantly dug down and started taking up the TNT. Astrid grabbed all the TNT and then dug the pressure plate up. Setting it carefully into her inventory, she turned to the nearest chest.

"Ooo!" She exclaimed.

"What'd you get?" Luka called down the hole.

"Three bones, four gold ingots, two iron ingots, one diamond and two nametags." She called to him.

"Nice! That's a name for two of our dogs. How many diamonds does that put us too? I've got one with me."

"Three." Astrid said. "I had one and then I found this one."

"That's enough for a diamond pick! Sweet."

Astrid turned the chest on her left and opened it.

"Oh buddy!" She exclaimed.

"That's promising!" Luka called.

"Two bones, one gold ingot, one iron ingot, one diamond and two nametags!" She called. "Ah dang, I'm out of room…" she tossed the clay she'd gotten from the cover into the chest and turned to the last chest.

"All our dogs get names!" Luka called, jumping up and down.

"Aww man. This was a lame chest." She complained. "Five bones in total, three pieces of bread and one piece of wheat."

"Dang. I was kind of hoping there'd be some dragon eggs in the chests."

"You and me both…" Astrid sighed as she started to stack back up. "Umm… so do you remember which way we came…?" She asked once she was back up.

"Over here." Luka said.

Astrid nodded. "Well then, let's go on our next stage of the journey."

They exited the temple, told their dogs to come, and continued on, angling south. They came upon the river again, this time bordered on the far side by a forest. Silvery birch shone in the moonlight, the dark stripes looking almost like shadowy claws. The oak wood lay in shadows, the moonlight casting just enough light to show what kind of tree stood next to the birch.

"Whoa. It's almost dawn." Astrid said in surprise, pointing east.

"We were in there for a while because of the mob attack." Luka tilted his head,

"True." Astrid said, starting forward again.

Leaping into the river, she started to swim to the other side, Luka a step behind her. Climbing out, their dogs teleported to them and shook their fur, spraying Astrid and Luka with multiple droplets of water.

"As if we weren't wet enough." Luka joked.

Astrid laughed and they continued through the forest. Climbing up a short hill, they went past a hole filled with water. The ground remained fairly flat as they continued, until a break in the trees could be seen, and the ground sloped down to sand. Coming through the trees, the duo stopped beside a lake ringed with sand. As they emerged, the sun came out, bathing the land in a soft glow. Looking further, Astrid noticed the sand stretching out almost to the end of eyesight. Continuing around the lake, they came to a cove connected to the ocean, not far from the lake. A little bit to the left and down from the cove was a second lake. The forest stretched around to continue past the lakes and cove. Going through it and turning south west, they came to a small clearing in the forest. The sea was to the south, swamp land to the west, the east led to more sea, and to the north, not at all far, was the desert, which lead to a snow forest and yet another swamp.

 _This is it. This is home. We've finally found it._ Astrid thought.

Looking at Luka she said softly, "We made it, Luka. We're home."

Luka looked at her and smiled. "Yes, we're definitely home."

Astrid smiled and hugged him. The dogs let out barks of joy and shook their fur, their tails wagging happily. Astrid broke from their hug and suddenly let out a clear, happy laugh, one that she hadn't heard since before they fled home. Luka suddenly did the same, and then they were laughing out of joy of their journey finally ending, and of finding their home to raise their dragons and start a dragon sanctuary in peace.

* * *

 **They finally made it! Home sweet home...**

 **AotD: Mmf... I do like fighting multiple zombies at once.**

 **QotD: What do you think Astrid and Luka will do next?**


	6. Chapter 4

**Here we go! Chapter 4! Thanks to everyone who is enjoying the book so far!**

 **Review Replies:**

 **StressofWriting: Thanks! I tried to get what their home looked like as best I could. You're probably right about the survival mischief. I honestly can't remember XD**

 **SiRoLoL: Thank you again for the constructive criticism! Thanks! I love doing parkour in Minecraft, especially in trees with tons of creepers blow me. You're talking to a tree parkour master right now! So I had to through in the parkour part. Some of the things that happen to Astrid and Luka happened to me in my games.**

 **Thanks for that advice. I'm trying to get away from that, but when you have two really great friends together almost 24/7, their bound to talk a lot.**

 **:choughs awkwardly: I know... But this is like two or three years old, so my style has changed and I don't feel like completely rewriting the story.**

 **Thanks for that :) Again, really old...**

 **:cheerily: That's my review reply policy!**

 **(Glad you like 'em!) Well, we'll see! I don't know what kind of plot twist I could come up with without completely killing them off :tugs on ear thoughtfully: not that it matters now.**

 **Well, without further ado, Chapter 4!**

* * *

Chapter 4

"Well, I think I finally have enough iron for an anvil." Luka said as he emerged from the mine.

A day had passed since they'd arrived, and they'd been working on getting supplies first.

"Great! The farm is finally set up. Our dogs get their names, and our dragons, once we've tamed them." Astrid said.

Luka moved to the furnaces and put some iron ore into them.

"I got a lot of coal and gold too." He said. "Oh and some redstone. Hopefully, we'll have enough iron left for a compass for both of us."

Astrid nodded. She looked at the chests on either side and sighed. "Once we get our dragons ready to hatch, we have _got_ to get a bigger house. We need more space for storage. _Badly_. Not to mention room for our beds, the crafting table, furnaces and anvil."

"No kidding. It's rather cramped in here, that's for sure." Luka agreed as he pulled some iron ingots out of the furnaces.

Astrid nodded and moved over to the crafting bench, sticks in her hand. She quickly made some fences and moved outside looking around for the best place to put the makeshift pens for the dragons. Choosing an area, she made an 11x10 square with the fences, and then repeated it two blocks away. Taking two fences away on the 11 sides from both pens, she went back into the house.

"Oh yeah, I finally made some beds! We can finally set our spawn point, so we don't have to worry quite as much about dying." Astrid commented.

"Great!" Luka grinned. "That'll make it final that this is our home."

"Yeah!" Astrid grinned back.

After a moments silence, Luka turned to her and asked, "So what dragon were you thinking of, Astrid?"

"I'm tied between fire, ice and water." She admitted.

"I'm tied between water, fire and forest." Luka said.

"They're all so good… it's just so hard to decide." Astrid sighed.

"No kidding." Luka said. "Yes, anvil!"

He quickly made it and set it between the beds.

"Yes, we can officially name our dogs!" Astrid smiled.

"Ladies first." Luka gestured to the anvil.

"Why thank you, my friend." Astrid said.

Astrid placed the nametag on the anvil and engraved the name 'Brave' on it. Pulling out her second one, she engraved the name 'Wise' on it.

"All yours." Astrid said to Luka.

"Thanks." Luka moved to the anvil and quickly engraved 'Loyal' on the first and 'Destiny' on the second.

Heading outside, they clipped the nametags to their dogs' collars. Brave's, Wise's, Loyal's and Destiny's name floated above their heads as the nametags were clipped to their collars.

"We have just enough for two compasses." Luka said as he pulled out eight more ingots. "Three pieces of iron are left."

"Not bad. Could you throw me four pieces of iron and some redstone?"

"Sure. Here you go."

They floated in front of Luka and then teleported into Astrid inventory as she moved forward. Turning to the crafting table, she made a compass. The magnet in the center spun wildly around as it tried to tell her she was at her spawn point. Putting it away, she went outside and took her dragon egg out of her bag. Gazing at it, she sighed and looked up as Luka came out.

"Still can't decide huh?" He asked gently.

Astrid nodded and sighed, "Yeah." She looked up at him. "Have you decided?"

"Yeah. I'm going to get a water dragon." Luka said.

"Nice." She paused, lost in thought. "I think… I think I'm going for ice."

"Really? Nice." Luka said.

"Yours is going to be easy. Look at all that water!" She said, gesturing around. "I have to go to the snow forest and then hang out there till it hatches so I can lead it back with fish."

"Alright." Luka nodded. "Be safe."

"Of course. C'mon Brave, Wise, your coming with me on an adventure." Astrid said, letting her dogs stand up.

Settling the bag across her back, Astrid started off to the north, back to the desert and her goal, the snow forest. Brave and Wise bounded around, chasing the occasional skeleton hiding in the trees. Moving into the trees, Astrid started keeping a closer watch around her, and the dogs stayed closer to her. Climbing the hill, she moved on, finally coming to the river; swimming across, she climbed out into the desert. The edge of the snow forest was just visible in the distance as Astrid turned to her right. She stopped suddenly, mentally kicking herself.

"I just realized that if Luka and I can TP to each other and to home, that we should have the ability to talk over long distances." Astrid said to herself. "Luka? Can you hear me?"

 _"_ _Astrid?! What the—"_ Luka's voice sounded in her mind.

"Don't you remember what the chief said?" Astrid asked.

 _"_ _Chief… what did the chi—OH! I remember! He said you and I were special in the way that we could teleport to others and to our home."_ Luka said.

"Right. Apparently, we have the ability to talk to each other over long distances." Astrid said. "Which is great because if you were to come and find me, I could warn you about a big golem that's sitting out here." She said casually.

 _"_ _Big golem?!"_ Luka exclaimed. _"_ _Is it building itself?"_ He demanded.

"Nope. I'm far enough away from him that he can't see me, and I can barley see him. He's in the opposite direction of were I'm going."

 _"_ _Good."_ Luka sighed.

Astrid started for the snow forest once again, her dogs occasionally turning around to check to make sure the golem wasn't following.

"So, have you gotten your egg ready?" Astrid asked as she walked.

 _"_ _Punching it now."_ Luka reported. _"_ _Ooo, is it water…?"_ Luka said tensely. _"_ _Yes, its water!"_

"Sweet! I can see some ice, so my dragon is almost here. I'm probably going to make a tent out here to camp out in." Astrid leaped into the river and swam towards the ice.

Climbing up onto the ice, Astrid pulled her egg out of her bag and set it on the ice. Punching it, she tensely waited to see what it would be.

"Yes! Ice dragon!" She exclaimed.

 _"_ _Nice! We've both gotten the dragons we wanted for our first!"_ Luka's voice said in her mind.

"Right? I was kind of worried it was going to be water—which would have been ok; don't get me wrong—or fire, since this ice touches desert sand. I just put it as far from the sand as possible." Astrid said.

She climbed up the slope towards the nearest spruce tree and started chopping at it with her axe.

 _"_ _Gosh, know we've got to get names for them. You need a really cool ice dragon name and I need a really cool water dragon name."_ Luka said after a minute.

"No kidding. We definitely need to think on that." Astrid said.

She turned some of the raw wood into planks and started making an L shaped tent with the planks. Digging the dirt and stone out, she put some planks on the bottom. Running out, she turned four more pieces of wood into planks and finished off the floor and the roof. Setting a torch on two walls, she turned and looked at the entrance.

 _I'll leave it for now._ She thought.

Going back out, she looked at the egg and then at the sky.

"Ahh man, it's dark." She sighed. "I guess I'll get a lot of XP out of the deal."

 _"_ _True. Let me know if you need help and I'll TP to you."_ Luka said absently.

"Alright, thanks. You sound like you're concentrating hard." She added after a minute.

 _"_ _I'm starting the house. Werewolves galore, holly cow. There's like four underneath me right now."_ He complained.

"You're ok?" Astrid asked.

 _"_ _Oh yeah. As long as I'm not knocked off or if I fall down I'll be fine. They can't get up here, so I'm not too worried."_

Astrid didn't respond. She was focusing on creeping back to the egg to make a hut around it, and a closed pathway to the tent.

 _"_ _Astrid?"_ Luka asked.

She quickly made the hut around the egg and the pathway, still not answering, and started to creep toward the tent.

 _"_ _Astrid?!"_ Luka tried again, his voice laced with panic.

Silently telling Brave and Wise to follow her, she entered the tent and quickly closed it up with wood.

 _"_ _Astrid, answer me!"_ Luka said, panic the main emotion in his voice.

"I'm here, don't worry." Astrid said.

 _"_ _What happened?! You just didn't respond!"_ Luka said, his voice worried.

"Sorry. I had to silently make a hut around my egg and a closed pathway to my tent."

 _"_ _Why?"_ He asked, confusion taking over.

"Because I'm surrounded by big golems." Astrid explained calmly.

 ** _"_** ** _What?!"_** Luka exclaimed.  
Astrid could picture him jumping in amazement. "Do _not_ jump off the wall, Luka!" She warned.

There was a pause.

"You jumped off didn't you?" Astrid said dryly.

 _"_ _Yes, but I'm safely back up."_ He answered. _"_ _So what are you going to do?!"_

Astrid paused. "Mainly hang out in the tent till the egg hatches. I'll go out every now and again to check and see if the golems are gone. If they aren't gone by the time my dragon hatches, I'll wait till it's fully grown, tame it and fly it back. I'll stay low to make sure Brave and Wise make it home too." Astrid explained slowly. "I just have to make sure the dragon will fit out of the hole when I open that up." She sighed.

 _"_ _Keep me updated!"_ Luka ordered.  
"Naturally." Astrid said with a grin.

Sitting on the floor, she leaned against the wall, prepared to wait out the night. As dawn crested the hill, Astrid carefully took two blocks away from the entrance and creeped outside, looking around. She straightened up, sighing in relief.

"The golems are gone." Astrid said.

 _"_ _Whew. Guess you can come home sooner, huh?"_ Luka answered.

"Yeah. I am so ready for that. The dragon should ha—what was that?"

 _"_ _What was what?"_ Luka asked, instantly alert.

Astrid turned in a circle, carefully looking at everything. "It was growl I haven't heard before." Hearing the growl again, she smacked her head with her hand. "Gosh I'm an idiot." She said, shaking her head. "My dragon hatched, and I'm hearing its growls."

 _"_ _Wait, if yours hatched, mine probably did too!"_ Luka exclaimed.

Astrid quickly opened up the doorway, told her dogs to come and then took down the dirt pen enclosing the dragon.

 _"_ _Yeah! I've got a baby water dragon!"_ Luka cried his voice filled with joy.

"Baby ice dragon!" Astrid exclaimed as the pen slowly disappeared. "He is adorable. Oh no wait, mine's a girl!"

The dragon's body and wing bones where pure white, and her horns, back spines, wing membranes and claws where blue. Her eyes were a striking leaf green.

 _"_ _Cool! Mine's a boy. He is so cool looking!"_ Luka said. _"_ _I can't wait to see yours."_

"I can't wait to see yours!" Astrid repeated. "I'm coming home now."

Astrid pulled out the fish from her bag and instantly the baby dragon walked over to her, her head tilted to look up at the fish in Astrid's hand. Astrid took two steps backward and the dragon followed. Turning, Astrid went a little farther, turning now and again to check and see if the baby was still following. She was, her tail flicking eagerly at the scent of fish. Eventually, they made it to the river, Astrid pausing to figure out how to get the dragon through the water without letting it lose interest in the fish.

"Operation: Get the dragon across the river and through the forest!" Astrid joked.

"Good luck!" Luka chuckled.

Astrid leaped into the water, her dogs and the dragon following closely behind. Astrid swam backwards, occasionally stopping and floating to allow the dragon to catch up. Finally, they made it onto the forest bank and Astrid started climbing the hill, eventually reaching the top.

 _"_ _Where are you at?"_ Luka asked.

"Umm… Just coming out to the lake we first found." Astrid answered.

 _"_ _Really? How'd you get here so fast?"_ Luka asked, surprised.

"No mobs for one thing!" Astrid laughed.

Luka laughed with her and she started around the lake, the baby still following her closely. Astrid turned and froze in surprise, staring at the new house. Luka came around to meet her and grinned at her expression.

"Like it?" He asked.

"It's awesome! That house is massive! Great job Luka!" Astrid answered.

"The house may be awesome, but look at this little girl! She is so cool looking!" Luka exclaimed, looking down at the dragon.

"Right? I can't wait to see your little guy." Astrid answered, starting forward again. "Whoa, you even put a little building around the mine entrance! Smart idea."

"Thanks. After watching a creeper and three zombies fall down it as they chased me, I realized we needed to close it off, for our sakes, our dogs' sakes and our dragon's sakes!"

Astrid moved to the empty pen and led her dragon into it. Moving to the entrance, she quickly grabbed the fences and blocked the dragon in.

"Wow!" Astrid exclaimed as she moved to Luka's dragon. "He's cool too!"

"Your dragon glows at night though!" He reminded her.

"True. He's still cool though!"

Luka chuckled and moved over to the house. Astrid told her dogs to sit and then followed him in. Setting her bag down, she drew the nametag out and put it in her inventory. Looking around, she nodded.

"Tons of space. That is exactly what we needed!" She said.

"Yeah, and I plan to build onto it once we plan out the dragon's pens. No bedrooms as of yet." Luka explained.

Astrid shrugged. "What's this chest here?" She asked, moving to a chest in the back of the house.

"That's the dragon eggs chest. We're going to get some more later on, so I figured they should have their own chest." Luka said.

"Good idea. I love the organization!" Astrid said, gesturing to the item frames representing which chest contained what.

"So now we need to think of names for our dragons." Luka said.

"Mmm… Definitely…" Astrid murmured.

"If you come up with a water name, let me know please!" Luka said.

"Same for me with an ice name!" Astrid chuckled.

As the day wore on, they worked on clearing the trees around the house and planning out the places for the dragons to stay.

"Ok, Astrid, I have an idea for the water dragons, ice dragons and fire dragon's pens." Luka said. "Come over to the lakes."

"Ok." Astrid said.

Coming around, she found him standing by the lake closest to the house.

"Ok, so I was thinking that we could fill in part of the lake—not all of it, just enough to let the dragons have water nearby—and then have pedestals for them to chill on. I was thinking have water falls frame it, with each fall feeding the lake." Luka said. Moving to the cove her pointed to the gap. "We can fill that in with sand and then fill in the lake with snow for the ice dragons."

"Ooo, ok. And we can make snowy mountains around it." Astrid said.

"I like that!" Luka said. He moved to the last lake. "I was thinking we could fill this in with sand, make sandy dunes around it and dot it with netherrack lit on fire for the fire dragons."

"I like it!" Astrid nodded. "I have an idea for forest and nether dragons. Aether, ghost and ender I have no clue on yet."

Leading the way over to the swamp, she gestured around. "If we fill this in with netherrack, make a volcano, line the edges with netherbrick fences, and put caves for each of them, I think the nether dragons will never want to leave."

"Good idea. Ooo, I could make nether trees!" Luka said.

"Nether trees? I can't wait to see them!" Astrid said as she turned back towards the house. "So this area will be the forest dragons. No idea on the design yet, but I'll work on it."

"I like it. And I think I have an idea for ghost. To hatch a ghost dragon, we have to go all the way down to bedrock, so I was thinking we could turn it into the Ghost Dragon's Pit, and have separate pens lining the sides for each ghost dragon. Maybe… Here?" He asked, hopping up and down on a spot five blocks from the house.

"Works for me. Let's dig the ground down so we don't forget." Astrid said.

"Ok." Luka pulled his shovel out and dug a 4x4 square. "Obviously not enough space, but I'll add on later.

Astrid nodded and together they went back to their dragons.  
"Oh my gosh, look at my ice dragon!" Astrid exclaimed. "She's glowing! Oh she's cool!"

The dragon's claws, wing membranes, back spines and horns glowed blue in the dark.

"Yep I told you." Luka chuckled. "Wait, are they bigger?" He asked peering closer at the dragons.

"Definitely!" Astrid peered at both of them. "I'd say they have about 40 HP right now." She said.

"I agree with that." Luka nodded.

Astrid yawned, Luka following close behind.

"Let's get some sleep." Astrid said, going into the house and moving towards her bed. She was already asleep before Luka had made it halfway to his bed.

* * *

 **So they have their dragons! Whoo! They'll be named next chapter.**

 **QotD: What would you name their dragons? For the water dragon, it has to be water related, and for the ice dragon, ice related. Really curious to see how close you guys get to their names!**

 **AotD: Well, you already know. :shrugs:**


	7. Chapter 5

**Here we go with Chapter 5! Dragon names are revealed here!**

 **Thanks for all the support on this story! I'll try and finish Enter the Highlands ASAP so I can continue on my other stories.**

 **Review Replies are going to be skipped tonight... half because I'm lazy and half because I'm working on Enter the Highlands.**

 **I do want to say:**

 **Great guesses on the names of the Dragons!**

 **SiRoLoL: Blizzard for the ice dragon, Whirlpool and Maelstrom for the water dragon.**

 **StressofWriting: Blizzard, Winter and Snowlight for the Ice dragon, Aquanus, Triton and Poseidon for the water dragon.**

 **I loved the guesses! Let's see what the names are, shall we! Hopefully you all like them!**

 **Another thing, before I go,**

 **SiRoLoL and StressofWriting, thank you so much for the continued support! You've been great readers for this one, and I enjoy talking with you guys so much! I am offering you guys a drawing or a dragon or character of your choice or a mini novella on a character or your choices past! You don't have to choose now-you can get more characters known if you want. I just wanted you to know that the offer stands :) Again, thanks so much!**

 **NOW! On to Chapter 5!**

* * *

Chapter 5

"Our dragons are fully grown!" Astrid said the next morning. "Look at you little ice dragon. You're not so little anymore."

Astrid pulled the fish from her inventory and fed one to the dragon. Hearts suddenly appeared around its head and Astrid gaped at her in surprise.

"She's tamed. It took one fish to tame her." Astrid said.

"Nice! Let's see how many mine will take. One… Two… Three! Yeah buddy! Tamed dragon!" Luka said.

"Holly cow, this is awesome!" Astrid said. "Have you got a name?"

"I do!"

"So do I. You go first."

"Ok… Rain Splash!" Luka announced.

"Nice! And mine is… Frozen River!"

"Oh I like that one."

He moved into the house to engrave the name on the tag. Astrid followed him and waited patiently until he'd finished. Engraving Frozen River's name on the tag, Astrid went out and put the tag on Frozen River's horn. It disappeared and Frozen River's name floated above her head. Astrid pulled the saddle from her inventory and put it on Frozen River.

"I'd say this calls for an adventure. Dragon egg hunt?" Luka said.

"Sounds good to me." Astrid agreed. "Don't forget some bones!"

"I've got some."

Astrid climbed into the saddle and told Frozen River to fly up. Frozen River obeyed and launched into the sky, her wings snapping open and flapping as she rose. Rain Splash rose up beside her and Luka let out a shout of joy.

"This is awesome!" He cried.

"No kidding!" Astrid answered.

"Which way?" Luka asked, spinning Rain Splash in a circle.

"Let's actually split up. I'll go towards the snow forest."

"Ok, and I'll go east over the forest."

Astrid turned Frozen River to the direction of the snow forest and told her to go forward.

"Man, it's so fast to fly! I'm already at the desert!" Astrid said.

"No kidding. I've found a jungle, and I'm just looking around for a jungle temple." Luka answered.

"Oh I found some plains. I'll keep an eye out for a ravine or a plains village." Astrid announced.

"Ahh never mind, this jungle is really small. I'm going over savannah now." Luka said.

"Mmm. I've found a desert, so I'll keep an eye out for a temple or a desert village." Astrid said. "The plains had nothing, by the way."

They searched for a while, Astrid and Luka both finding a desert village. The one Luka found had a blacksmith that had nothing better than a saddle in the chest. After another day of searching, Astrid finally found a ravine that contained an abandoned mineshaft, and Luka flew over as fast as he could.

"Great find." He called as he landed.

"Thanks. I almost missed it, actually." Astrid admitted.

They used a bone to make their dragons lay down and then they climbed down the ravine, managing to enter the mineshaft with no trouble.

"Ok, I think it's best if we split up." Astrid said.

"I was thinking the same thing. I'll go this way." Luka agreed, turning to the tunnel on the left.

Astrid went straight and started going through the shaft, placing a torch when necessary. Rattling announced the approaching of two skeletons, and she quickly drew her sword. The sound of bones hitting together filled her ears, and Astrid realized that the skeletons were fighting each other. Walking forward, Astrid saw a creeper out of the corner of her eye, and the two skeletons. Leaping forward, Astrid heard the creeper explode, and she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Luka queered.

"Two skeletons were fighting each other and I think a creeper got in the crossfire. It exploded and killed the skeletons." Astrid laughed.

Luka laughed. "I wish I could have seen that one!"

They continued searching, both finding a chest each. Astrid shook her head.

"This mineshaft is so weird. You can't just run straight down the shafts." She said.

"Right? Do you know how many cave spiders have jumped on me because of this?"

"I've heard your squawks as they landed on you. What, five?"

"Ten. _Ten!_ " Luka cried. He squawked suddenly and after a pause, he sighed. "That was the eleventh."

Astrid shook her head. "It's crazy."

She continued on down the tunnel drawing her sword as a skeleton jumped at her. "Skeletons and cave spiders attacking!" She cried.

One of the skeletons arrows knocked her into a hole from the force. "They've got me in a hole! They've got me in a hole!" Her voice started going shrill.

"Don't die Astrid. Don't die." Luka encouraged, chuckling nervously.

Swinging her sword rapidly, she killed the skeletons that fell down with her and turned to figure out what to do right as cave spider jumped at her.

"Oh wait. It's not a hole. There's a walkway here." Astrid commented as the spider knocked her forward.

Moving into the path, she was hit by the spider again.

"Where is it?" She muttered as she turned to fight it.

Noticing something in front of her, Astrid started.

"Is that a chest?" Astrid went a little further up. "Yes, it's a chest!" She said as the spider hit her again. Turning she started to slash at it with her sword. "Good job spiders and skeletons!"

"They took you straight to it." Luka said.

"They took me straight to it." Astrid repeated, smiling.

Astrid opened the chest and drew in a sharp breath. "Dragon egg!" She choked on the words and coughed. "Oh my gosh I nearly chocked!" She coughed again. "I got to excited there; too much air went into my lungs."

"I heard that." Luka said. "But you got a dragon egg!"

"I did!" Astrid responded, coughing again.

"Where are you?" Luka asked.

"I can see your name, hang on, I'm coming towards you." Astrid responded.

"Oh, I can see your name now." Luka said. "Chest! I found a chest!" He exclaimed suddenly.

"Really?" Astrid asked.

"Dragon egg!" Luka exclaimed.

"Sweet. That's two now."

They separated again, finding the tunnels to have practically no chests.

"Oh gosh! Astrid, you have to see this!" Luka said after some more searching.

"What?" Astrid asked, turning around.

"Just TP to me." Luka said.

"Ok hang on."

Astrid closed her eyes and focused her mind on Luka's presence. When she opened them again, she was standing next to Luka.

"Ok so, I was just walking down this shaft when I saw a chest and then I saw the fire." Luka explained.

Astrid peered over his shoulder and her eyes widened in surprise. "A dungeon!" She said. "With a skeleton spawner." Luka informed her. "Ready?"

"Yep!"

They entered the room and Astrid leaped at the skeletons while Luka placed torches around the spawner to stop more skeletons from spawning in.

"Let's open the chests together." They said simultaneously.

Astrid counted down and then opened her chest. She gasped as she looked at the contents.

"Two dragon eggs!" Luka exclaimed.

"Luka! Luka!" Astrid whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Open this chest."

Luka opened it and gasped. "Oh my gosh." He said slowly.

"Five dragon eggs!"

"Oh gosh. I thought that with the way you were going on that there was three or something, but _five_?!" Luka said.

"I'd say this wraps up this adventure!" Astrid said.

"Totally!" Luka nodded.

They left the spawner room and started down the shaft that led to it, each trying to figure out which way to go to get out.

* * *

 **The thing about the creeper and the skeletons actually happened to me. Scared me half to death at first because it was dark and I was a little tense. After it happened, I laughed so hard XD**

 **QotD: Do you like the dragon's names?**

 **AotD: Can't remember it ^_^'**


	8. Chapter 6

**This one is shorter, not as eventful, as far as I remember.**

 **In Chapter 7, we met some new characters! Finally XD**

 **That's pretty much it. So onto the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 6

"So what are we working on today, Luka?" Astrid asked. Two days had passed since their adventure and they'd started working on clearing a space for the dragon library the day before.

"Either start one of the pens or work on the nether portal." He said. "Actually lets do both. I'll work on obsidian and you can work on one of the pens."

"Alright." Astrid nodded.

She walked to the first lake and started taking sand one block above the water to fill it in. Using cobble, she put a base two blocks under the water to hold the sand up. Putting the sand on top of the cobble she went back and forth around the island, getting sand as she needed it. Once she was done, the water was only up to about her waist, allowing both Astrid and Luka to either wade or swim through the water. She put another sand block in the water in four different spots, put three oak fences stacked on top of each other and paused.

"I need sandstone slabs…" Astrid muttered.

She moved onto the shore and placed her crafting table down on the sand. Quickly crafting some sandstone, she moved on to craft some sandstone slabs. Punching the crafting table repeatedly, it broke and became a little square on the ground, which she picked up and moved back into her inventory. Switching to some glass she had in her inventory, she placed them around the block of sand, three out on the sides facing horizontally, three in the same direction on the vertical sides. From the position, this left the glass in a rectangle with a piece sticking out on each end. Astrid then put two blocks on the vertical sides in the same row, making the shape more of a blocky star. Then she stacked up using the rest of the sand and placed a sandstone slab on top of the fence. Punching the sand repeatedly until it was gone, she swam back to the shore and nodded. She then repeated the same design on the other three spots and smiled.

"I think that works. Rain Splash will be happy here. And I think Frozen River will be too, until we get her pen set up." Astrid said to herself.

She busied herself with clearing out some more trees and laying down the design for the library. Luka set up the nether portal and then came to see the water dragon's pen as night fell.

"This is great!" Luka said.

"Thanks."  
"Rain Splash will love it." Luka called over his shoulder as he raced off.

He came back a few minutes later on Rain Splash. Rain Splash expertly landed on the pedestal in front and to the right, and growled appreciatively. Astrid raced back to get Frozen River, and telling her to fly up, Astrid guided her dragon the pen. Frozen River dived and landed on the pedestal to the left of Rain Splash. She nodded and lay down on the glass.

"I think Frozen River is happy. We just need to get her pen set up soon." Astrid commented as she and Luka moved to the library.

"Yeah." Luka nodded.

He nodded again as he saw the layout and then the duo moved to get ready for the Nether. Making some more iron pickaxes and shovels and stocking up on cobblestone, they walked to the portal and paused. The portal swirled in different ways, and purple particles, alike in color to the swirling portal, slowly drifted out and then where quickly sucked back in. The obsidian holding the portal together seemed a darker black in the darkness, with blue-silver spots showing where the moonlight touched it. Astrid moved forward into the portal first, and Luka followed. The world swam before their eyes and then blanked out. When the world came in focus again, it was no longer the serene forest they'd left. In its place was the harsh, desolate and almost unbearably hot world of the Nether. Here, lava lakes were as large as oceans, just as deep, and lava falls were very common. Not only that, lava flowed as fast as water, which could mean death even easier than normal. And every mob that was there, except the zombie pig-men, were hostile.

"I hear a ghast!" Luka cried.

"Move away from the portal!" Astrid commanded, leaping away.

The high pitched, sad wail of the ghast filled their ears, but neither of the two humans could see the ghast, and no exploding fireballs came their way. Astrid and Luka turned back to the portal and started building a cobblestone hut around it. Carefully knocking out the netherrack floor, they filled it in with cobble.

"There." Luka sighed.

A grunting moan suddenly sounded behind him and he jumped, spinning around with his sword held in front of him to block some of the attack. The zombie pig-man just stared at him, its half pig face looking serenely calm.

"Gosh I nearly attacked that thing!" Luka gasped.

"Good thing you didn't!" Astrid sighed. "I do not want to be swarmed by pig-men!"

"Neither to do I!" Luka answered. "Let's get our supplies, find the nether fortress and get out of here, before that ghast comes back!"

"I'm with you there!"

They both edged out of the hut and starting tackling the netherrack with their pickaxes.

* * *

 **Oo, the Nether!**

 **QotD: Which is your favorite Nether mob? Which is your favorite Nether mob to fight?**


	9. Chapter 7

**Well, this is two days late... Sorry about that. Ocarina of Time (a Legend of Zelda game) recently came into my life full force since I got my 64 working again. So here's the later chapter.**

 **Review Replies:**

 ***coughs* I would do them, but I'm about to eat and watch Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. (I'm not looking forward to more Jar Jar Binks *sigh*)**

* * *

Chapter 7

"What should we do know?" Luka asked three days later. They'd gotten a good supply of glowstone, netherrack and soul sand, but they hadn't found a nether fortress.

"Do you remember where that village with the blacksmith was?" Astrid said absently.

"Not really, no." Luka sighed. "What are you doing?"

"Planning out the forest dragon's area…"

"Ah."

Astrid drew some more designs on paper before looking up. "We can try and find that village, if you want. I kind of want to bring some villagers here, so we have ample trading."

"Eh… Not here, not yet. We need fences around the area first. Too many zombies. Maybe we can bring them to that desert where we found the temple?" Luka suggested.

"That works. Do you want to go now?"

"We can. Or do you want to finish the forest dragon area?"

"Nah. I need a break from it." She said. Sighing, she added, "I might scrap the designs and just build, actually. Let's go find that village."

Luka nodded and started for the water dragon's pen, Astrid close on his heels. Mounting their dragons, they flew off to the desert, the dragons eating the miles quickly.

"What's that?" Astrid shouted, pointing.

"That's not the desert temple. In fact, I don't see the temple anymore!" Luka shouted back. "Is that what I think it is?"

"I think so!" Astrid laughed.

They swopped down closer and confirmed what they thought. Villagers had moved into this desert. They landed on the outskirts of the village, greeted by shrieks from the villagers. Astrid and Luka shared a glance and raced into the village, offering reassurances as they went. A group of villagers moved towards the dragons, who were lying down. Luka and Astrid paused and watched, smiling slightly as a little village girl went up to Frozen River and patted her leg. She skittered off slowly when Frozen River looked at her, but then came back and did the same to Rain Splash. Finally gaining confidence, she sat in between the two dragons, and refused to move, even when some adults ordered her away.

"Future dragon tamer?" Luka whispered, smiling.

Astrid grinned and continued to look around.

"Blacksmith!" She said, smiling even wider.

The two dragon tamers moved into the blacksmith.  
"Greetings, dragon tamers!" The blacksmith smiled as they entered. "Please, feel free to take the contents of the chest. Can I get you anything?" He was about the same age as Luka.

"You're not frightened?" Luka asked, surprised.

"I've been around dragons before. I had one, until zombies killed him." His eyes flashed with pain. Shaking his head, he continued. "My daughter is the one sitting with your dragons. She loved mine, and was just as upset when he died." He moved to the anvil as he spoke, and started hammering at a piece of metal lying on it.

"What's your name?" Astrid asked as she came out of the blacksmiths living quarters.

"Seth." He answered. "What are your names?"

"I'm Astrid and this is Luka."

"Nice to meet you." Luka said at the same time Seth did.

Astrid glanced at the doorway to his living quarters. There was no door. "What happened to your door?"

"A trickster took it a few days ago. I haven't had a chance to make a new one yet. I haven't even got around to teaching my daughter, either." Seth told them. He continued fashioning his piece of metal.

Astrid quickly placed a crafting table down and crafted a door. She placed it in the doorway.

"Thank you." Seth smiled.

"Why don't we do that with everyone else who doesn't have a door?" Luka suggested.

"I was just about to say the same thing!" Astrid laughed.

"Thank you!" Seth said again.

The tamers left and moved around the village, placing doors where needed and more importantly, torches on the buildings and ground. When they were done, they went back to Seth's, halting in surprise. Seth's house was in the middle of the village. Rain Splash and Frozen River where lying outside of it. Seth's daughter had led them there, which was shocking. What was the most surprising was the fact that the villagers were okay with them being there.

"Astrid, Luka, I want you to meet my daughter, Mist." Seth introduced them.

"It's so great to meet you!" Mist smiled. She was about 7 years old. Just old enough to learn how to craft things and to pick what she was going to be. "Your dragons are awesome!"

"Thank you." Luka said. "The water dragon is mine. His name is Rain Splash."

"Mine is obviously the ice dragon." Astrid laughed. "Her name is Frozen River."

"You're kidding." Seth said, stunned. "My dragon was a half water, half ice dragon named Frozen Rain!"

They all got stunned expressions, including the dragons. Then they all burst out laughing, the dragons doing a growling chuckle. The tamers and their dragons stayed in the villager for hours, all four them having lost track of time. They all were introduced to the other villagers, finding out with much surprise that most of the villagers had had dragons at one point in their lives.

"Oh gosh, it's almost dark!" Astrid said with surprise.

"Oh no…" Mist said a very worried expression on her small face.

"Let me guess: a ton of mobs come around." Luka said.

"Yes… werewolves, creepers, skeletons, endermen, spiders, and the most numerous, zombies." Seth sighed.

As he spoke, a howl ripped the peaceful night air. Astrid bolted outside in time to see a werewolf change in front of Frozen River. The werewolf leaped for her, striking a blow across her arm before she could act. Astrid grunted and drew her sword, but Frozen River was faster. She soared to her feet with a growl and pounced on the werewolf. There was no other way to describe it. It was a catlike move. The werewolf scratched her leg, but it barely did any damage. Frozen River killed the werewolf and moved back to her spot like nothing happened. A golden apple and an iron pickax floated on the ground where the werewolf had been. Astrid stared at the spot where the werewolf had been, stunned. Luka threw the door open and leaped to Astrid's side, his face completely worried. "Astrid!"

"I'm ok." Astrid said, sheathing her sword. She shifted her arm and winced, placing her hand over the wound. "I'll heal here in a minute."

Luka sighed in relief. Seth and Mist came out, worried. "What happened?" Mist squeaked.

"A werewolf changed. I came out and it attacked me. Frozen River killed it after it attacked me. Werewolf versus Dragon. Dragon for the win!" Astrid laughed.

The mood lightened considerably then, as everyone laughed.

"We'll stay here for the night, I think. We can help you fight off the mobs. Maybe even fence the area off, so only endermen can get in." Luka said.

Astrid nodded in agreement. "We can patrol the area on our dragons."

Seth smiled. "We don't have enough room for you to stay in here, but there is an abandoned house next to the blacksmith. That's where Mist and I stayed when the door was taken. Since we don't need it anymore, you can stay there."

"Thanks, Seth." Astrid and Luka said simultaneously.

"I can lead you there." Seth said, trying to be confident, but his voice and eyes betrayed his worry.

"No, stay here with Mist. We can find it on our own. Where is it in relation to the blacksmith?" Astrid added.

"When you go out the door, turn left. It's the house right next to us." Mist answered.

"Thanks." Luka nodded.

"It has two beds, a kitchen, an anvil, a crafting bench, and some chests. When you come here, that can be your house." Seth explained.

Astrid nodded. The tamers said goodbye and exited the house. They mounted their dragons and traveled to the house. As they climbed the stairs to the door, a skeleton moved into view, looked at them, and aimed its bow.

"Duck!" Luka shouted.

They ducked, but the skeleton wasn't interested in them. It fired at Rain Splash, who roared in fury and leaped to his paws. Charging the skeleton, he quickly killed it before stalking back to his place, fuming, his tail lashing.

"Maybe we should build a dragon barn?" Astrid mused.

"That's not a bad idea. We don't have to do it now, since we'll be patrolling, but we can do it in the morning."

Astrid nodded. "We'll be right back. You can kill anything that attacks you, or anything that comes in the vicinity of this house and Seth's." She added to the dragons. They growled with pleasure and turned to watch the area.

The tamers entered their new house and looked around, pleasantly surprised. The beds were at the far corner from the door, and the crafting table was in between them. The kitchen was to their right and the table was above that. The anvil was to their left, right by the door. The chests were on the opposite wall from the kitchen. Torches were spaced evenly around the middle of the wall, just above the windows. All in all, it was a nice 'summer' home, so to speak. After poking around for a bit, they exited and mounted their dragons.

"One in the air and one on the ground?" Luka asked.

Huh? Oh! Yes, that will work." Astrid chuckled.

Luka smiled, and something unreadable flashed in his eyes. Astrid blinked it off and nudged Frozen River into a walk. Luka followed her, his expression slightly embarrassed, though Astrid couldn't think why.

"I'll stay on the ground. You go in the air." Luka said.

"And give you the most dangerous job? Not a chance." Astrid protested.

Luka gave her a look, but she didn't back down.

"I'm just as a good of a fighter as you." Astrid pointed out.

"We're the same with the sword, but you beat me at the bow." Luka pointed out.

Now it was Astrid's turn to give him a look. Luka arched a brow.

"Alright, how about this: You go in the air and periodically fly low and use your bow from dragonback?" Luka said.

"Alright, that will work." Astrid nodded.

Luka nodded as Frozen River launched into the air. The snow white dragon gleamed in the moonlight, and her wing membranes, spins, claws and horns glowed ice blue. Astrid looked back at Luka and sighed. Frozen River turned her head so she could see her rider.

"I'm alright, Frozen River." Astrid said. "I just… never mind…"

Frozen River gave her a look like she completely understood what Astrid was going to say. Astrid drew her bow and told Frozen River to fly lower. The ice dragon soared down and Astrid looked around for mobs.

* * *

 **So I just realized that one of my favorite characters in the village doesn't appear until Chapter 8. I still love Seth and Misty though 3**

 **QotD: What do you think of Seth and Mist and the village? More will be known about it in the next chapters.**


	10. Chapter 8

**Gah! I'm so sorry for how late this is! High school has been an absolute JERK. To quote Gollem: "We hates it!" Yes. Yes, I hate High School so much... On the plus side, Fire Emblem: Awakening is an amazing game, and I've made so many theroies about Fire Emblem in generl. But I'm rambling about something you guys probably don't care about, so on to the story!**

* * *

Chapter 8

"How about some new dragons?" Astrid asked. They had flown home last night after staying with the village for another day. They had started to set up fences around the perimeter of the village, but the two of them still had a lot to finish. Seth had sent them home to make sure all was safe. They were still beating back mobs, but the worse was over.

"Sounds great! Which are you going for?"

"Fire."

"Ha! That's the one I'm going to go for!" Luka laughed.

Astrid smiled. "There are three ways to get a fire dragon: lava, fire or desert. Which do you want to try?"

"I'll try the lava method. You?"

"Desert."

"Alright. Just be careful." He seemed slightly reluctant to let go to the desert on her own, but he knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind.

"I'll have Frozen River with me." She pointed out.

Luka nodded. "Just be careful." He repeated.

"I will be." She smiled.

After getting her dragon egg, she headed off to the water pen. She entered and climbed into the saddle, noting that Rain Splash was asleep. Telling Frozen River to fly, she turned her to the desert. They got there quickly, and Frozen River landed on the outskirts, greeted by a few shouts of alarm.

"Astrid! You scared us!" Hale, a farmer, said as he recognized her. "Well, most of us."

"Hey, Hale." Astrid greeted the farmer. He was one of the villagers that hadn't had a dragon before. "Sorry about that. But you should probably start getting used to it. Luka and I are going to be coming on dragons—usually. Though our dragons might change." She added.

Hale nodded, embarrassed. His expression changed to confusion. "What do you mean, 'our dragons might change?' You only have one each!"

"Luka and I are going to hatch new ones. We're both going for fire dragons." She looked around. "Where's your brother?"

"Ah." Hale nodded. At her question, his eyes flooded with pain. "Rale was hit with a couple arrows last night. One lodged itself into his neck. The healers aren't sure if he's going to make it."

Hale's twin brother, Rale, was one of those few villagers who knew how to fight. They were called the 'Protectors,' and, as their title suggested, they fought the mobs off.

"What? How? The protectors all were iron armor!" Astrid was stunned.

"Spider jockey. A smart one, too. The skeleton told the spider to a climb a building and then it fired down Rale's neck. From what I saw, it went into his back too." Hale looked really upset.

"I'm so sorry, Hale. I'll go see him, really soon." Astrid liked dark-haired, sarcastic protector. He was one of her closest friends in the village. Luka's too.

Hale sighed and went to back to tending his crops. Astrid went to the dragon barn they had set up, Frozen River right behind her. After setting the egg down and punching it, she waited a minute to make sure it was a fire dragon.  
 _"_ _The lava method works."_ Luka's voice said suddenly in her mind.

"So does desert." Astrid answered silently.

"What's wrong?" Luka asked instantly.

"Rale's been hurt, badly. A spider jockey climbed a building and then hit him in the neck. Hale said that from what he saw, the arrow also went into his back. The healers aren't sure if he's going to live." Astrid explained her voice sad.

"Seriously?" Luka was lost for words. "I… I should come over and see him…"

"Perhaps you should, in case he dies…" Astrid agreed as she headed for the healers house.

She got the impression that he was nodding. As she entered the healers house, she heard a heart-wrenching scream of pain. Astrid winced and looked up. Rale was obviously on the second floor.

"Hello?" She called.

"Astrid!" Mist shot down the ladder and leaped into Astrid's arms.

"Hey Mist! You chose to be a healer, then?" Astrid asked, examining the little girls white robe.

"Yep." She smiled, but then her face fell. "But if I'd have known that Rale would hurt the day I chose, I might not have…"

"Rale is pretty well liked, isn't he?" Astrid said sadly.

"He is. He's one of those who would take an arrow before letting anyone else get hit. He's also like a big brother to all of us younger villagers. He and his brother are the best at that." She paused. "Rale's been asking to see you and Luka. Is Luka coming?"

"Yeah, he is. He'll be here soon."

"Alright. C'mon."

Astrid set Mist down and followed the little girl up the ladder. She climbed out and looked around. As she looked at Rale, her heart went to her throat.

"Astrid. I was hoping you'd come today." Rale said hoarsely. "Where's Luka?"

"He's coming." Astrid's voice cracked, and she winced.

"It's alright. The pain alone tells me it's really bad." He croaked.

Astrid examined him further, and noted that his spin wasn't broken. Blood had pooled on the sheets under his neck, and the bandage that had been wrapped around the wound was already soaked. The healers began changing it.

"Astrid?" someone called.

"He's up here, Luka." Astrid called down the ladder.

"Hey Rale…" Luka murmured as he turned to see him.

"Luka, good to see you again." Rale greeted his friend hoarsely.

"How're you doing?" Luka asked, running a hand through his spiky black hair.

"It hurts." Rale answered. He flinched as the healers set his head down. "Other than that, I feel like I could wrestle a dragon."

Astrid couldn't help but give a half smile. The fact that Rale could still be sarcastic when he was like this was impressive.

"We had just finished taking the arrow out when you came in." The young, ashen haired healer, Mella, murmured.

Astrid noted the arrow and then the pool of blood again. It made sense then. "His spine isn't broken, which is good."

Mella looked at her with some surprise. "You know how to heal?"

"Back in our old village, I trained as a healer as well as a fighter and dragon tamer/rider." Astrid explained. "We both did." She added, nodding to Luka.

"Perhaps you two can help?" Mist asked, her eyes brightening.

"We can give it our best shot, that's for sure." Luka answered.

Astrid gently removed the newly soaked bandage and ordered the healers to help her gently roll Rale over onto his side. Astrid and Luka examined the wound, gently wiping away the blood with a damp cloth.

"Do you guys have Saleroot? That might stop the bleeding." Astrid asked after a few tense minutes.

"Yes, we do." Elna, another healer, answered.

"Do you have Goldenrod, Sale leaves, flowers or berries?" Luka asked.

"Yes." Elna confirmed again.

"Go get some of everything we just listed off, please." Luka told her.

Elna nodded and, beckoning Mist to her, shot down the ladder, quickly followed by the little red-head.

"What will those herbs do?" Sam asked. He was the lead healer, and Rale and Hale's father.

"As Astrid said, Saleroot helps stop bleeding, but it's also a painkiller." Luka answered, looking at Astrid expectantly.

"Goldenrod is great at healing wounds and stopping infection, Sale leaves, flowers and berries do the same thing as both Saleroot and Goldenrod combined. I'm thinking that if the Saleroot on its own doesn't stop the bleeding, then the leaves, flowers or berries will. Or maybe I have to combine them all. I'm thinking that mixing Goldenrod with the leaves, flowers and berries will make the wound heal even faster." She paused. "Rambling, sorry."

"It's fine." Sam chuckled.

"I see I'm not the only one who rambles." Rale grunted. "For a while there, I thought I was the only one in the whole world who did."

"Here's the herbs!" Elna shouted as she returned. She shot up the ladder with Mist behind her.

"Great!" Astrid said. She took down a mortar and pestle and started to grind the Goldenrod up. Luka started to give Rale the Saleroot.

"Ack, it tastes terrible…" Rale groaned.

"Good. It's supposed too. If tasted good, that means it wouldn't work." Astrid explained. She added a few Sale leaves, flowers and berries to the goldenrod poultice after a moment's hesitation. "Roll him over again." She ordered once the poultice was completely mixed. She applied it to his wound once he was on his side. Rale winced and grunted, but he didn't cry out. They rolled him back over, and he smiled weakly. "I actually feel a bit better already. But I suppose that's just the painkiller."

Astrid wrapped Rale's wound and set his head back on the pillow. "Let him sleep." Luka said.

Rale was already asleep. They went down the ladder and went outside.

"I can't stay; I have an egg due to hatch, and if I'm not there, the dragonet might fly away. I wish I could, but once the egg hatches, I'll come back." Luka said regretfully.

"I have to stay. My egg is hatching here. Besides, it might be a good idea to have one of us here." Astrid said.  
"Yeah." Luka nodded. "I'll see you in a day." He climbed into the saddle, wheeled Rain Splash around and launched into the air. Astrid watched him fly away before turning. "One of us needs to stay with Rale 24/7. Hopefully, he'll be better tomorrow." Astrid said.

"I'll stay with him tonight." Gale, the fourth and final healer, said. His sandy blond hair was ruffled, as if the wind had combed it.

"Thanks, Gale." Sam said.

Gale nodded once and vanished back inside. Sam went off to find Hale; Mella went back inside, leaving Elna, Mist and Astrid outside.

"I should probably go see if my dragon has hatched." Astrid said.

"Elna!" Mella called. "I need a hand! The pools leaking again!"

"I have to run. Can you take Mist with you? Seth is off gathering materials and won't be back until almost sunset."

"Yeah, I can do that." Astrid nodded.

"Yay!" Mist cried happily.

Elna disappeared inside, and Astrid lead the way to the dragon barn. Little growls floated from the barn, and Astrid perked up a bit.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mist asked.

"You bet!" Astrid grinned, though her eyes were still sad.

She opened the door cautiously and peeked inside. Instantly, the baby dragon raced to the door, and Astrid slipped inside, tugging Mist in with her. "He can't get out one door, but I just want to be safe."

The dragon growled in frustration, turned and skittered across the barn. Astrid nodded. "Well, once he grows up, I can tame him." She sighed. "I hope Rale gets better by that time."

"You like him, don't you?" Mist asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Who, the dragon or Rale?"

"Rale."  
"Of course I do. But if you're asking whether or not I'm in love with him, the answer is no. Rale's just a good friend." Astrid grunted.

"But you're obviously in love with someone! I just have to figure out who…" Mist narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Good luck with that." Astrid snorted. "And how come a girl of seven has so much knowledge of love life?"

"Because I had a giant crush on someone once. And then he died." Mist said. What surprised Astrid the most was how calm she said it.

"Hmm. Well. You hungry? I don't exactly thing you want to stand around all day watching a dragon grow up."

"Yeah, I could eat." Mist said, starting for the door to the house.

Astrid strode forward to catch up with the little red-head.

"How's it going?" Luka asked later that night, his voice startling Astrid from her thoughts.

After lunch, Astrid had gone out to work on the fence surrounding the village. After completing what she could, she, Mist and Frozen River had played together, their games interrupted occasionally when mobs came around.

"It's going pretty well. My little guy iss almost fully grown and Rale's doing better. I think he's going to make it." Astrid added tentatively.

"Great. I'll be there tomorrow morning on my fire dragon. I'm going to name her Phoenix, by the way."

"That's a great name. My dragon's name is going to be Torch."

"I like that one."

"Thanks. I might actually fly back on Frozen River tonight and then run back on foot. I'm not too sure right now. Trying to get two dragons back at once is kind of hard."

"Yeah. At least they will follow you."

"True. I'm not so sure right now, though. I suppose I should make my decision soon, huh?" Astrid sighed.

"Probably. Just be careful, whichever one you choose!"

"What's wrong with you?" Mist said suddenly.

"Huh?" Astrid started. "Oh. Nothing, just thinking. I'm trying to decide if I should fly Frozen River back or if I should wait…

"What?" Luka's voice was faint.

"Oh, sorry, Luka! I forgot to detach from your mind. I'm talking to Mist."

Luka nodded and she detached from his mind. "Sorry, Mist!" Astrid apologized. "My thoughts dragged me down again. What did you say?"

"Your dragon's full grown!"

"He is? Sweet." Astrid grinned and entered the barn. She took some fish out of her pack and the fire dragon raced over. After three fish, hearts rose and he growled. "Welcome, Torch." Astrid greeted her new dragon.

"He's so cool! Can I pet him?" Mist asked.

"Of course. Just be careful that you don't punch him, though. I don't want to have to explain to your father as to why you're dead."

Mist chuckled and stroked Torch's nose and Astrid put the saddle on him.

"Astrid? Mist?"

"Dad!" Mist shot off to the door.

Astrid shook her head and followed her. "Hey, Seth." She greeted the red-haired blacksmith.

"How's your dragon doing?" Seth asked as he scooped his daughter up.

"Fully grown and tamed. I'm going to take him out for a test flight here soon. Then I have to decide whether I want to ride Frozen River home or wait till morning."

"Well, maybe being in the air will help clear your mind." Seth said.

"I'll walk you guy's home, first. It's too dark for you to go home on your own. Wait until I open the door to come out. I want to bring Torch out for extra protection."

Seth nodded and Astrid went back into the dragon barn. Climbing into the saddle, she urged Torch toward the door and opened them. He emerged, greeted by moans from zombies. Astrid dismounted and closed the doors quickly. "Already?" She complained.

She drew her sword and opened the door. Seth and Mist warily came out, fear etched on their faces. They reached the blacksmith safely and Astrid sheathed her sword before climbing into the saddle. She launched Torch into the air and then flew around low, dodging arrows.

"Oh, I like you, Torch. You fly so smooth!"

Torch turned his head around to grin at her.

 _"_ _Have you decided?"_ Luka asked.

"I think so, yes."

 _"_ _And?"_

"I'm flying Frozen River back. I don't know why I was stupid enough to wait till night though." She finished with a sigh.

 _"_ _You can always bring Brave and Wise with you."_ Luka suggested.

"True. I'll see you in a minute."

With that, she turned Torch and guided him down to the barn. He landed and she dismounted, making him sit with a bone. She then climbed into Frozen River's saddle and told her to launch into the air. _No need to bother Brave and Wise._ Astrid thought.

The night was cool, the leaves bleached in the light of the moon and the stars. The dark haired young woman cast her gaze up and noticed that the moon was almost full. "Hopefully, I'll be able to see mobs with this light…" She mumbled to herself.

Frozen River growled something and sped up a bit. Finally, the ice dragon thumped down on one of the pedestals in the water pen. Her pure white scales glowed in the moonlight, her wing membranes, horns, claws and spines glowing ice blue. She gazed at her trainer with a glowing emerald gaze and nuzzled Astrid fondly. Astrid smiled, told her to sit down, and then sprinted off back to the desert. Almost instantly, she heard the wails of zombies and the clattering of bones. Astrid hissed and sprinted faster. She ducked with a strangled cry of shock as an arrow whizzed past her face. She started zig-zagging to dodge the arrows. She saw the river through the trees and Astrid pushed herself harder. She heard the hiss of a creeper and she leaped forward, landing hard on the ground and taking a bit of damage. The creeper exploded, sending her flying into the river. Claire remained under the water for a while and then she pushed up to the top. She exploded from under the surface and kicked out for the desert shore. She clambered up and shook her hair out before sprinting to the village. She opened the gate and closed it before sprinting in a ways and stopping, panting. Astrid quickly ate some bread and then headed at an easier pace to the healers hut to find Elna sitting outside, chewing on some tansy, probably to calm her nerves from the day.

"Hey, Astrid." She healer greeted her, setting the stalks aside.

"How's Rale?" The trainer asked.

"Sleeping easier. That Saleroot is definitely working."

"Great."

"He'll probably want to see you when he wakes." Elna advised. "I'd go sit with him, but he and I don't get along that well."

Astrid dipped her head and headed into the healing house, where she climbed the ladder and relieved Gale on watch duty.

* * *

 ***cough* Yes, this was not the chapter I was raving about, I thought it was, but... I was lazy and didn't make sure XD Chapter 9 finally has some action. And my style actually shifts from the old to the new towards the very end of this chapter. Chapter 9 onward is my new style, the one you see in the one-shot that gives a little history of this story! I also want to point out that Chapter 9 is going to be ver delayed... I haven't even started it... *sigh***

 **QotD: Which dragons do you think Astrid and Luka will go for next? And what do you think those dragons will be named? Remember, the name is determined by the element the dragon represents.**


	11. Authors Update

Hey guys. This isn't the actual chapter, so I'm sorry for crushing all your excitement. This is a little update That I need to put out.

First off, I want to say I'm so sorry for not updating this in ages. I have to write chapter 9 yet. I haven't been posting ANY of my stories, so don't feel like it's just DS.

The reason I haven't updated in forever is because of a little thing called Time. High school is an absolute jerk, and since I'm homeschooled, it takes me ages. When I do finish, I usually walk away from the computer and either draw or play Fire Emblem, or both. After that, it's usually dinner time and my family and I watch some of our favorite TV shows together, namely Person of Interest, Elementary, and when the new episodes come, Vampire Diaries and Originals. By that time it's usually 8:30 and I usually go to bed since I wake up at 7:30 each morning. I will work on my books ASAP, I promise! As soon as Spring Break comes, I should be able to work on them. Thank you for bearing with me this far, and again, I'm sorry!


	12. Chapter 9

**I've updated! Whoo hoo! I finally broke my writers block on these stories. Well, this one is shorter... but it's dark. I know I promised this chapter would be the one with all the action, but I need to plan this fight a little bit more... Lucky for you guys, I know how it starts. Chapter 10 will be the fight, and it might last a few chapters. Let's just say the fight coming is big. Also... I've FINALLY started this in my new style! I'm so much happier with this ^_^**

 **Review replies:**

 **Heh. I've only gotten one review that wasn't from SiRoLoL or StressofWriting. I'm okay with that. I wasn't expecting this story to be well liked. The love it's gotten is honestly surprising.**

 **Actual Review replies:  
**

 **Tim46billion: I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T REPLY TO YOU! I never saw your reply! Gosh, I can't apologize enough for that DX Anyway! Thank you so much for that tip! I didn't know Silk Touch could do all that :)**

 **Okay, now to the actual chapter.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 9_**

 _"Um. Luka? We have a problem."_

 _"What? Astrid, why do you sound so choked? Oh. OH. By the gods…!"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"I'm coming! Just hang on!"_

 _"Get a message to the others you idiot!"_

 _"I'm not leaving you!"_

 _"No, you're leaving me. GO!"_

 _"NO! Get your hands off me!"_

 _"Hnngh!"_

 _"ASTRID!"_

 _"GO!"_

 _"_ _NO! NO! ASTRID! ASTRID!"_

"AHHH!"

Astrid bolted awake, panting. Her scream brought two of the protectors running, but she couldn't make out who they were. "I'm fine. I just need a little time alone…"

The two of them left, leaving Astrid alone. Well, mostly alone. _"Astrid? Are you okay? You sound hoarse."_ Luka's voice was as calming as it was upsetting.

"Bad dream. Really bad dream." Astrid answered. "I'm okay though."

 _"Alright."_ He obviously was not convinced.

Astrid swung her legs out of the bed and stood up, mind half on the dream. She stumbled over to the wind and heaved it upwards, the fresh, warm and dry air of the desert banishing the dream from her mind. Feeling refreshed, she closed the window, tidied her bed and strapped her armor on. She then headed out. "I'm going to go check on Rale." She said to Luka.

He never got a chance to reply.

"Astrid! Astrid! Help!" It was Elna. She was sprinting towards Astrid, a look of utter worry and shock on her face.

"Elna?!" Astrid barked, leaping to her side. "What's wrong?!"

The brown haired healer skidded to a stop, sand spraying out around her. "It's Rale! He says the Saleroot is starting to taste good!"

Horror swept through Astrid. With a voice choked with it she gasped, "What?!"

"The bleeding has gone down, and it's not infected, but I think he's succumbing to it!" Elna sped off to the healers hut, Astrid hot on her heels.

"That's not good!" Astrid hissed.

 _"Astrid, I'm on my way!"_ It took Luka's voice to make her realize she hadn't detached from his mind.

 _"Get here as soon as you can."_ Astrid thought to him.

The healer and the trainer sped back in silence. Astrid shot up the ladder first, Elna close on her heels. By Rale's bedside they found Mella, Sam and Hale. Elna gasped. "He's gotten worse in the short time I was away!"

Astrid pushed her way through and examined his wound. "Not infected, I know he didn't lose enough blood… Rale, wake up. What's wrong?"

His breathing was even hoarser than the day before. He slowly opened his eyes and Astrid noticed the paleness to them. "A…strid…" He choked out.

"No! No, Rale!" The black haired girl cried as he closed his eyes again. "Don't do this to me!" She patted his face rapidly.

"What happened?!" Sam growled. "Did you poison him?!"

"What?! No!" Astrid protested. "Mella! Get me the arrow! It's got to be something with that. The Saleroot should have worked."

The ashen haired healer returned, the arrow in her hands. Astrid examined it and groaned. "Poisoned. Why did I not think to check it out before?!" She clenched her fist, snapping the arrow in half. "Get all the herbs you have that combat poison. I don't know what that poison is, but it doesn't look good."

Luka bolted up the ladder suddenly and leaped to their sides. Rale forced his eyes open and greeted his friend in the same manner he had Astrid, before his eyes closed once more. Luka raised his steel blue gaze to Astrid's crimson gaze. _"Isn't that… werewolf poisoning…?"_ He thought to her.

 _"Yes."_ That was the only thing she said.

Luka closed his eyes briefly. "I don't know the poison either." He said to the others. "But we'll try everything we can.

 _"What the heck are we going to do?"_ Luka angrily thought to Astrid.

It had been a full day of working on Rale, with no results… which is what they had expected. Now, the sun was setting, and the two trainers had finally called it quits.

 _"How should I know?"_ Astrid snapped back. _"The only way to save Rale is the get the blood of an unchanged werewolf. But night just fell and Rale is going to be a werewolf by the time the sun rises."_

 _"Or the taint is too powerful for him and he dies."_

 _"Either way, we lose him!"_ Astrid raged. _"I should have checked the arrow…!"_

 _"We both should have. Don't put all the blame on yourself."_ Luka soothed.

Astrid was about to reply when the warning drums started beating through the village. They looked at each other and sprinted off to the dragon barn. Torch charged out the door the second they were opened. Phoenix was more composed than Torch.

The difference in the two fire dragons was amazing. One was that they were different genders, making their builds different. But the other was the sheer size of the dragons. Fire dragons are larger dragons, but Torch was massive, and tall. Phoenix was an averaged sized fire dragon, and her head only came to his shoulder.

Luke looked at his dragon. "We'll go scout." He leaped into the saddle without another word. Phoenix leaped into the air and the two disappeared.

Astrid watched him go, and then she two leaped into the saddle. Choosing to travel by land, she urged Torch into a lope, heading for the sound of the drums. When they arrived, Phoenix was just landing. One of the villagers beating on the drums and Luka cried at the same time, "Zombies! Lots of them!"

Astrid bared her teeth. "Not good! This is NOT what we needed right now!"

Luka matched her expression. "No kidding!"

The woman looked at her dragon. She'd remembered something about them: all dragons can communicate with one another, both out loud and mentally, much like what Astrid and Luka shared. "Torch! Call Frozen River and Rain Splash here!"

Luka looked at her. "Great idea!"

Torch growled and fell silent. He suddenly smacked his face with his paw and, with a snort, he drew designs in the sand with one massive claw. When he was done, he turned his fire orange gaze to Astrid expectantly.

"They'll be here soon." Astrid read off.

Luka merely grunted. He turned back and let out a chocked cry. "You can see them already!"

Astrid looked to where he pointed and growled. "That's a lot of zombies… And having the other mobs will not help."

Luka shook his head. "No. The fences should keep them back though."

Matching looks of horror spread across the trainer's faces. "Carpenters! Get your wood and start making fences! Everyone else, start placing them from where Astrid and I left off!" Luka roared.

Everyone hurried off. Frozen River and Rain Splash thumped down next to their trainers. Astrid looked at her friend. "I'll help the villagers!"

He nodded. "I'll scout the forces. Take Splash with you!"

Astrid nodded as the big water dragon hurried over. "And Frozen is going with you."

The small ice dragon grunted and leaped into the air after the other trainer. Astrid wheeled Torch around and, with Rain Splash in tow, sprinted over to the nearest gap in the defenses.

What they saw brought them all, dragon and woman alike, to a screeching halt.

* * *

 **Do you guys hate me yet? Astrid has a dream in which she possibly dies, Rale is dying and might possibly turn into a werewolf, the village is being attacked by a massive horde of zombies and I leave you with a terrible cliff hanger. Yeah. You must hate me. I'd hate myself, were I in your shoes.**

 **QotD: What do you think Astrid, Splash and Torch see?**

 **AotD: I looked this one up e,e I can't answer, partly because I don't want to spoil it and partly because I don't even know.**

 **Maybe this cliffe will prompt more reviews *nudge nudge***

 **Nah, you don't have to review if you don't want too. I'm just teasing you guys. I'm not kidding when I say the amount of views and the amount of love SiRoLoL and StressofWriting have given this story, even with the old, horrible writing style and... *shudders*... It means a lot. So thank you, both of you :) And thank you all for reading this story, and for favoriting it!**

 **DS is not my most loved story, that's for dang sure. 632 views and 4 favorites. But still, it means a lot that you read it and in some cases, favorite it and leave a review. So again, thank you :)**


	13. Chapter 10

**Heheh... I know I promised I would submit this before Spring Break ended but... I was kind of waiting for a review and it just came in so... But here we are! Chapter 10! It's all escalating now! And my two loyal followers of this story, SiRoLoL and StressofWriting, (especially Siro) will be really happy with something in this chapter.**

 **Plus... We actually have some fighting in this one! Not that it's great, because I suck at writing fight scenes... buuut... we get some fighting. And this isn't even the main fight. I'm happy with this chapter. There are flaws, but I'm still happy with it :P Plus it's kind of long!**

 **Review Replies:**

 **I'm kind of pressed for time at the minute, so I'm skipping these today. Sorry!**

 **On to the chapter!**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 10_**

"Rale!" Astrid shouted, urging Torch forward.

Just outside the healers hut, just outside the shadow of the building, Rale was being held up by a creature. Said creature was wrapped in a pitch black cloak. Astrid couldn't figure out what the creature was, but from the growls the dragons were giving they had figured it out.

"N…No… Astrid… let me… go…" Rale chocked hoarsely.

"Rale?!" Astrid stopped Torch and stared at him in shock. "What do you mean?! You're being kidnapped!"

The creature's head turned. "Actually no, he's not being kidnapped." The creature's voice betrayed that the clocked figure was a woman. She was soft-spoken, and her tone was gentle. "I'm going to save him."

"How?!" Astrid cried.

"Keep asking questions and Rale will run out of time!" The woman snapped. "Just trust me."

"Please… Astrid…" Rale panted.

Astrid slowly backed Torch up. Rain Splash let out a low growl and did the same. Without a word, Astrid wheeled Torch around and urged him into a sprint. Rain Splash hesitated once and then leaped after them, growling something to Torch. The fire dragon answered and heaved a sigh.

Upon reaching the fence, her mind still on Rale, Astrid noted with satisfaction that the villagers were working quickly. Already the fence was nearing completion.

But there were still gaps, and the mobs took advantage of that at every turn. The Protects formed a large ring around the villagers placing the fence and the carpenters making the fences. As she watched, one protector crumpled to the ground, pierced by man feathered arrows. She didn't know who it was. Astrid dismounted and raced to help the protectors. Her iron armor gleamed a bright silver-white in the moon light

Whoever it was that had fallen angered both dragons. Rain Splash darted forward and pounced on the skeletons while Torch launched into the air. The mobs turned frantically to the water dragon and started attacking, all the while backing up. Creepers tried to explode near him, but each time, Torch launched a fire ball at them that killed them in one hit. The skeletons now split into two groups: those who attacked the water dragon and those who attacked the fire dragon. It was nearly a perfect split. Half bounced off the dragon's scales while the other half found their marks. Already they were resembling pincushions, and their HP was dropping. She kept an eye on them, but Astrid was too busy helping hold back the scattered few zombies on this side to get to their sides.

The dragons retreated to regenerate and the other mobs turned to the protectors with a vengeance. Progress on the fence had slowed considerably. Astrid fought like fury, iron sword gleaming in the night. Slash and dodge, slash and dodge… The archers mainly focused on the creepers, leaving the spiders, skeletons and random zombies to the sword men and women.

"Hoy there, Astrid!" One carpenter called. "We have two more fences to place! Get inside now!"

"Retreat inside the fence! Retreat!" Astrid shouted, dodging an arrow. She felt another pierce her shoulder. She ignored it, instead pushing villagers in front of her.

"Astrid! Look!" Cried a protector at her side. It was Yen, a dusty blond, blue eyed young man. He was skilled with a blade, and a rather big guy, in height and in shoulder length.

Astrid quickly glanced up to see two werewolves approach. She wondered quickly if one of them was Rale, but quickly dismissed it. The werewolves weren't concerned with these two, however, instead focusing on the gap in the fence. Astrid turned and bellowed, "CLOSE THE GAP! NOW!"

"But—"

"DO IT!"

The villagers closed the gap, leaving Astrid and Yen on the hostile side. Yen twirled his sword as the werewolves slowly turned to them and grunted, "Well. One last fight."

"Don't count on it." Astrid growled. "Sheath your sword and hold up your arms."

" _What?!"_ Yen cried.

"Do it!" Astrid barked. Her sword was already sheathed and she stretched her arms up.

Yen gave her a look that said all too clearly, _you're crazy, woman!_ She grinned at him as the big man slowly copied her. Once he was copying her, Astrid let out two, piercing whistles. The werewolves halted their advance for a second. Then, as they increased sped, two black shadows swooped down and whisked the two humans into the air. Astrid let out a whoop of joy while a terrified scream came from Yen.

They were being held in the gentle and safe grip of Torch and Rain Splash. Torch carried Astrid while Splash had Yen. The dragons quickly dived to the middle of the village and set their bundles down before thumping down beside them. Their wings folded back and they instantly turned to glare into the night.

"Crazy? Oh yes." Astrid grinned, giving Yen a mischievous look.

Yen was panting slightly, but a grin slowly spread across his face. "Okay, okay, that was fun."

Luka, Frozen River and Phoenix joined them, as did the other villagers. Here in the center of the village, they were safe from the mobs. Spider Jockeys were rare, and so far, none had been reported. Torch wrote to them all that he and Phoenix would personally roast any who showed up.

"We need a plan of attack." The head protector, a tall, willowy woman named Lily growled, punching her palm with her fist.

"And we'll get one. Don't worry." Luka responded.

"We have the dragons, which is a great boon." Seth muttered. "And with the varying elements, we're pretty well rounded."

Sam looked a touch worried. "But without a forest dragon, how can we slow them down? And we don't have a Nether dragon, which means we don't have the soul sand option either."

Luka turned to Astrid, expecting her strategic mind to start whirling. And whirl it did. "We can't slow them down with grass or soul sand, no." She mused. She looked up at the four dragons, her gaze finally resting on Rain Splash and then flicking to Frozen River. "But we do have water and we do have ice." A look of confusion swamped her features for a moment, but her crimson eyes quickly flashed to the fire dragons. One could just see the light bulb go off. "And we have fire…"

"Where are you going with this?" Lily asked.

A wide grin spread across Astrid's face. "We create a moat around the village, and then high, sheer cliffs of ice on our side of the moat." She hesitated, the puzzle pieces clicking in to place. And so she explained her plan.

"It… It could work." Said an old woman. This was the village elder. Mera was her name.

"Work?!" Lily laughed. "OF COURSE it'll work! It's perfect."

"No." Astrid shook her head. "Not perfect. It has its flaws, as any plan would. But it will hold us out till dawn."

They fell into a thoughtful, tense silence. "If we had two more people, it would be all the better." Luka hissed suddenly. "That's one of the flaws: There are two gaps on the eastern edge that could prove dangerous."

Everyone glanced at the others gathered, none able to come up with a solution. Finally, one clear, soft-spoken, musical voice broke through the tense silence. "I believe I can help with that."

The gathered fighters turned and gasped. Even the dragons were startled. Astrid and Luka pushed to the front, eyes wide and mouths gaping. Before them were two, unlikely people.

 _Meanwhile, in an old jungle temple far away…_

"Chief, we've picked up reports of dragons to the west."

"Have we now?" The chief turned. He was a big man, tall and broad shouldered, and a clamor was strapped to his back. His eyes were a fiery orange, with flecks of red around the pupils. His hair was dark brown, but it seemed black in the shadows "How far away?"

The messenger shook his head. "All I know is Servath came from the west with a report of dragons. He doesn't know how many or where they are at." He waved his hand vaguely in a westerly direction. "Just that they are west."

The chief hummed thoughtfully. "Come. We rally the troops."

The messenger bowed and fell into step beside his chief. Outside, the former blew a collection of sharp blasts on a horn he had tied to his belt. Quickly, warriors, men and women both, mothers, children and elders melted from the tents scattered around the temple and gathered below the steps.

"Clansmen!" The chief bellowed. "We have news of dragons to the west! We go now, to slay them!"

"Slay the beasts! Slay the beasts!" The people chanted.

"Yes! We go to slay the beasts!" The chief cried.

The people cheered, the messenger blasting notes on his horn. The chief finally quieted the people. A tense silence passed and then, in a great bellow, the chief cried, "Outsiders! We march… _TO WAR!_ "

* * *

 **Tense, no? Nya ha ha ha. Rale gets 'kidnapped,' Astrid gets in a fight, two mysterious people appear, a giant horde of zombies is approaching and... Outsiders are becoming aware of dragons to the West... Now, I want to point out, that doesn't mean ANYTHING for Luka and Astrid. They could be talking about a whole different dragon group.**

 **I also want to point out that giving dragons elemental powers based on their type is MY IDEA. The actual dragon mount mod, unfortunately, doesn't have the dragons do any sort of attack. (However, I am now a touch skeptical, because Minecraft has been updated to 1.9, and the mod may have changed.**

 **QotD: Who do you think the two figures are? And what are your thoughts on the Outsiders? And... what do you think happens in the next chapter?**


	14. Chapter 11

**I am so sorry for the long wait on this chapter guys! I was waiting for one of my reviewers to review and he never did, and then I had school... This was supposed to be up last week. Ah well. Better late than never, right? This chapter doesn't have a lot of action, but I kind of needed a calmer time. You find out who those two figures are, and you find out what happened to Rale in the this chapter! Next chapter may or may not have a fight... Fun fact: This chapter was supposed to be longer, as I was intending to include the fight... but when I hit 2,341 words, I figured this chapter was long enough XD Also, this chapter marks the changing point of views! We have Luka's POV in this chapter!**

 **Review Replies:**

 **SiRoLoL: I'm not rewriting my entire review, but you pointed something SO IMPORTANT! Yes, the Outsiders and the Outlanders. I just got my names confused.**

 **Note: Okay, this is important. The dragons of the Dragon Mount Mod DO NOT have any powers. They can fly, but they can't breath fire or generate soul sand or what have you. _I'm making it up for the sake of the story._ Just so you guys know.**

 **Less important note: I have never done this before, but I actually timed some of my favorite songs from one of my favorite soundtracks to parts of this chapter. I will put these timings after you read the chapter, because I don't want to give spoilers.**

 **Now... Chapter 11!**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 11_**

 _Luka_

"It… It can't be!" Luka cried, eyes wide in shock.

Astrid simply gaped at the two people before them, eyes brimming with emotion. One of the two figures, the shorter lilac haired woman smiled. "What? Cat got your tongue, Astrid?"

Luka choked at the voice, tears slipping down his cheeks. The other figure smiled at them both. "Luka, be at peace. It's not the end of the world to see us."

"B-But you-you died!" Luka half-shouted. He was staring at the lilac haired woman.

"Yes I did…. Or so you thought." She responded.

Luka tried to form a name on his tongue. As his mouth opened and closed, Lily stepped forward. "Do you know these two?" She growled.

"Ye—yes, we-we do." Astrid stuttered. "They-they were part of our… our old village."

"You remember!" The man smiled, his fire red hair glowing in the torch light.

"M-Merk…!" Astrid sobbed out his name, stumbling forward to collapse in his arms.

Merk wrapped her in a hug and she buried her head in his shoulder. The lilac haired girl had tears streaming down her face as Luka finally whispered her name. "Kestrel…!"

Kestrel let out a happy sob and leaped forward, Luka quickly wrapping her in a hug. The villagers looked on in shock, Seth trying to talk. He finally found words only to choke out, "Dragons!"

"Ah yes. Those would be our dragons." Merk answered. He let go of Astrid with one hand and beckoned one of the dragons closer. It was a Nether dragon. "This is Smoke."

Smoke was a large dragon, his eyes a brilliant fire orange. He growled a greeting and dipped his head. Astrid and Luka both remembered Smoke from their days in the village. He and Kestrel's dragon, Darkness, where rather old, making them larger than the other dragons present. Kestrel then introduced her Ender dragon, Darkness. She dipped her head and Seth and the other villagers greeted them back. The other four dragons growled greetings.

"Hey Astrid…?" It was Yen. "Maybe you could explain something…?"

Astrid pulled away from Merk and turned around, wiping the tears from her eyes. Luka slowly shuffled around, still holding Kestrel in his arms. Astrid spoke up, voice still thick with emotion. "Guys, these are two people from our old village… You've all heard the story." She paused. "This is Merk, my older brother."

Luka gently pulled away from Kestrel and smiled at her before saying, "And this is my little sister, Kestrel."

"Wait I thought everyone from your village died!" Hale chimed in.

"We did too." Astrid nodded. She turned to her brother. "But how did you survive?!"

"We sent our dragons away." Lilac answered. "The Outlanders followed them and we ran away. Our dragons ran for a good few months until they were able to kill those barbarians. Then they tracked us down. It's been a good year since we found each other. Then we came to find you guys, since we knew Mina had sent you on the run."

The two trainers nodded and fell silent. Seth finally spoke up. "Look, I know you want to catch up, but we have a rather large horde of zombies coming and we need to start the plan."

"Ah, yes." Astrid spun on her heel, the no-nonsense air about her coming. It showed her tactician side was coming to light.

It was one thing Luka loved about her. If they weren't related, he'd probably have courted her. But Astrid had grown to be like his sister, and that's all he saw her as. "We need to change the plan a bit." Luka noted.

"Yup!" Astrid smirked. "First…" She quickly filled Kestrel and Merk in on the plan and then looked at the other two dragons. "We have soul sand now, and netherrack. Plus obsidian and the dark fog Ender dragons can produce."

Astrid started barking orders, directing everyone, even the dragons, to start digging a wide, deep gap around the village. The next few minutes for Luka were a complete blur of digging, shouting, roars and the warning drum beats as the hoard got closer. He dimly heard Astrid make a comment that, if they were lucky, the hoard would have to retreat into the forest as dawn came. Already, villagers, trainers, dragons and mobs alike could sense dawn approaching.

Sure enough, the horde veered into the woods, hiding in the safety of the trees as the sun came up. The bright side to this was that the villagers could keep working through the day, and work faster, since the protectors could help. The downside was that Astrid and Luka were cut off from running to their home, should they need too. Flying was always an option, but the skeletons that were in the mix of zombies might prove problematic for that.

"Well… the sun's up." Yen grunted, suddenly appearing at Luka's side.

The short, spiky, black haired man nodded. "It's a relief." Grief washed over him as he thought of Rale. Astrid had told him about the creature that had smuggled him out of the village. He hoped his friend was right to trust her.

"I wonder how this battle will go…" Yen muttered. The protector yawned and stretched. "Having dragons on our side helps a lot."

"Especially six."

"Mmm…"

They fell silent and continued working on building the cobblestone wall around the village. It was six blocks thick and they were going to be insanely high, since they had to be higher than the ice cliffs, to let the archers rain arrows down on the approaching mobs.

Sudden shouts echoed through the village, causing all the workers on the wall to spin around. Some accidentally fell off the wall, taking some fall damage, though the height wasn't enough to kill them. "Remind me to get everyone Feather Falling boots!" Luka shouted as he leaped off the wall.

He grunted as he hit the ground, but he sped into a sprint non-the-less, racing for the sounds of the shouts. The women were ushering the children into the church, which was currently the only fortified building in the village. Luka heard one child cry out, "Werewolves!"

 _Werewolves? …Rale!_ Luka thought, speeding up even more.

He sensed rather than heard his two dragons diving towards him, and he heard Astrid's, Merk's and Kestrel's diving down. When he glanced around, Luka noticed that Astrid was beside him. From the look on her face, she was also thinking about Rale.

As they drew closer to the center of the shouts, they both drew their swords, only to halt in shock at the sight before them. There were indeed two werewolves in front of them, but they weren't normal werewolves. Normal, unchanged werewolves were human looking, usually dressed in tattered clothes. These werewolves had tails and ears of a wolf and were dressed in the armor a villager or a trainer would wear. One of these two werewolves was very familiar. The other was female, and her hair, ears and tail were ashen colored. Her hair was long, and vanished inside her cloak.

"No please! You have the wrong idea!" The female werewolf cried out. She was clearly a soft-spoken individual, and her voice, though slightly angry and upset, was gentle. "We're not here to hurt you, we're here to help!" She dodged an arrow with a small yip. "We aren't werewolves!"

"Everyone, cease fighting immediately!" Astrid shouted.

They all stopped, everyone, even the werewolves turning to look at her. "Astrid?" Luka asked eyes wide.

"Just trust me." She answered, pushing through the crowd to stand before them. Luka raced to her side.

Astrid was getting straight to the point, her crimson eyes flashing. "Alright. One of you had better start explaining."

The female stepped up and bowed her hand over her heart. "First, I should introduce myself." She said, loud enough for everyone gathered to hear her. "My name is Claire."

"My name is Astrid." The trainer dipped her head.

"And I'm Luka." The other trainer also dipped his head, steel blue eyes filled with confusion. Why weren't these werewolves attacking them?

"It's nice to meet you. Rale has spoken fondly of you." Claire smiled.

"Wha-?!" Luka shouted. "Rale?! What have you done to him?!"

"Nothing bad." The male werewolf responded. "Hey there, guys."

The two trainers stared at him, mouths agape. "Rale?!"

"Good to see you two again." He smiled.

"B-But you?!" Astrid stuttered. "Oh! Claire! You were the one who smuggled him out!"

"Aye." Claire nodded. "I was going to save his life, as I promised."

By now, the entire village was gathered. Most had weapons drawn. Only the villager elder, Mera, Seth and Yen seemed to know what was going on. They were gazing at the two werewolves in shocked understanding. Luka glanced back at them. "So… you obviously aren't werewolves, and yet you were able to heal him? How?"

"It's a good thing you are all here," Claire raised her voice, "as this relates to all of you villagers." She paused. "I am of an old race of shapeshifters. My kind has all but vanished as of late, at least in these lands. Our main homeland is still abundant from last I heard. My specie has many kinds of forms, though my Clan shifted into the wolf form. Wolf-Changers are what we were and are called."

Some of the faces of the villagers were turning into shocked understanding as Claire spoke.

"Werewolves are renegade Wolf-Changers who turned evil though various ways. That is how the blood of me and my clanmates and kin can heal werewolf poisoning. Rale was poisoned by a werewolf, and I smuggled him out of the village in order to heal him. He was so far along in the changing phase, however, that the only way to completely heal was turn him into a Wolf-Changer, like me."

"But wait!" Mera cried out. "A Wolf-Changer can't change someone into their kind unless said someone is of the Wolf-Changer bloodline! That goes for any of the Skin-Changers!"

"Ah! So you still keep some of the lore in your libraries!" Claire's ears perked. "Some of it was lost, as I see, especially the most important part." She turned slowly to gaze at all he villagers. "You all have Wolf-Changer blood in your veins. I see that some of you have other skin-changer blood in you, like you, fair maiden." She pointed Elna out. "You have Cat-Changer blood in you."

"So wait, that means—" Elna broke off with a cry of grief."

"Peace, young one." Claire soothed. "You don't have to move. All the skin-changers get along swimmingly. And any skin-changers blood can heal a werewolf poisoning.

Elna let out a sigh of relief. Seth looked around. "So… we're all skin-changers?" He asked. "Why haven't we found this out before, or kept that knowledge in our lore?"

A look of grief came upon Claire's fair features. "The pure villagers, those with no skin-changer blood went on a killing spree." She sighed. "The villagers all lived under the rule of one ruler, before they split into separate villages of varying size and scattered around the endless expanse of Minecraft.

"At the time of the Great Attack, as it is called, the ruler was a queen. Her name has been lost to history, and she goes down now as the Mad Queen. The Mad Queen was a fickle, vain, and downright crazy individual.

"The Mad Queen was angry that the skin-changers were more beautiful than her, and she ordered as many of them killed as possible. She sent countless soldiers out into the land to find the land of the skin-changers, but she never succeeded in finding it."

Claire paused now, her face a mix of grief and rage. She finally sighed, the grief returning as the main emotion on her face. "The ancestors of the founders of this village, and thus their descendants, were Wolf-Changers. When they heard of the Mad Queen's attack, they begged one of the goddesses to suppress their forms and to make them look like ordinary villagers. The Mad Queen knew that this village had been a Wolf-Changer village at one point, and she razed it. Some of the inhabitants died, though most survived. I imagine that the fact that Wolf-Changer blood was in your veins was erased from history, to protect you in the future. Of course, villagers have no ruler anymore, so it's safe for you to learn it again."

"That's…" Seth murmured.

"Horrible…" Mist finished.

Astrid and Luka stood silently, listening to the story. They glanced at each other and back at the Wolf-Changers. Claire turned to them and suddenly reeled back in shock. "You two…!"

"What? What about us?" Luka asked.

"O-oh it's nothing. You… you just reminded me of my siblings." Claire shook her head, brilliant blue eyes wide.

The trainers accepted that and looked around. Astrid looked at her. "Are trainers Skin-Changers as well?" She asked.

"They can be, aye." Claire nodded. She looked around, spotting Kestrel and Merk nearby. "All four of you can."

All the trainers stared at her in shock. Luka's mind was whirling. _I'm a Skin-Changer?!_

Seth suddenly stepped up, looking confident. "Your name is Claire, right?"

"Aye." She nodded to the red-haired blacksmith.

"My name is Seth and this is my daughter, Mist." He introduced himself. "We've decided that, if you can, to change us into Wolf-Changers."

Claire and Rale both looked stunned at his request. Their look of shock changed to one of utter stunned surprise as the other villagers requested the same thing. Claire finally smiled and nodded. "I must warn you, it will hurt. I also don't know how long it will take, and with that horde outside…"

"Then only do a few of us at a time." Mera answered. "When the ones being turned are finished, they can come and fight and the next group can go and be changed."

Claire glanced at Rale and lowered her head. "Alright." She looked up. "We'd best get started then."

* * *

 **This chapter took me ages to write, honestly. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I'm sorry if the meeting with Merk and Kestrel looked rushed... but hey, they have a horde of zombies outside their door. I think a rushed meeting is okay XD**

 **QotD 1: What do you think of Claire, Merk and Kestrel?**

 **QotD 2: What do you guys think of the Skin-Changers?**

 **Okay, now the timing of the soundtracks. The soundtrack I was listening too is Fire Emblem: Awakening. So go look that up on YouTube really fast. I listen to the complete soundtrack, and the best playlist for that I found was created by VideoGameSoundtracks. So look him up and then find his playlist for Awakening.**

 **(1) Start the song "You have power... like mine" when Luka says:** "It… It can't be!"

 **(1) Stop the song when Seth finishes saying:** "Look, I know you want to catch up, but we have a rather large horde of zombies coming and we need to start the plan."

 **(2) Start the song "Id~(Return)" when Astrid says:** "Ah, yes."

 **(2) Stop the song when you finish reading this sentence:** Flying was always an option, but the skeletons that were in the mix of zombies might prove problematic for that.

 **(3) Start the song "Id~(Beginnings)" When Yen says:** "Well… the sun's up."

 **(3) Stop the song when you finish reading the sentence:** It was six blocks thick and they were going to be insanely high, since they had to be higher than the ice cliffs, to let the archers rain arrows down on the approaching mobs.

 **(4) Start the song "I mean it. Go!" when you start reading the sentence:** Sudden shouts echoed through the village, causing all the workers on the wall to spin around.

 **(4) Stop the song when you finish reading the sentence:** "Alright. One of you had better start explaining."

 **(5) Start the song "You may call me Marth" when you start reading the sentence:** The female stepped up and bowed her hand over her heart.

 **(5) Stop the song when you finish reading the sentence:** "Why haven't we found this out before, or kept that knowledge in our lore?"

 **(6) Start the song "The life force here shall renew me!" when you start reading the sentence:** A look of grief came upon Claire's fair features.

 **(6) Stop the song when you finish Claire's final sentence:** Of course, villagers have no ruler anymore, so it's safe for you to learn it again."

 **(7) Start the song "You may call me Marth" when Seth says: "That's..."**

 **(7) Stop the song at the end of the chapter.**


	15. Chapter 12

**Whoo buddy! 3,542 words to this chapter. Damn. On a whole, I have 24,181 words to the whole story. Did I expect that many? Hell no.**

 **On another note... AUGH, I'M SO SORRY FOR HOW LATE THIS IS! My summer break has been rather hectic... and the few days I have been writing, I've been working on my newest original book. The only reason I got chapter 12 of DS out was because I stayed up really late writing it. Good gods, sorry guys. Anyways, we have Chapter 12, which is my favorite chapter so far. Setting up a lot of plot stuffs. And by a lot, I mean _A LOT._** **Sorry for any typos. It's 1:33 AM right now. My brain is now deciding to shut down. (I finished the chapter, that's why.)**

 **Review Replies:**

 **Eh... I'd copy my reply to SiRoLoL, but uh... That was A LONG reply. I'll just say this: I wanted you guys to be sort of disappointed in Chapter 11. A, it'll *hopefully* make Chapter 12 better, and *hopefully* make the rest of the chapter better. Plus, Ch. 11 was a filler with a lot of plot stuffs being set up. Not as many as this one though.**

 **Sayin' this straight off the bat: Chapter 12 is rather action packed. Finally, right? I've been promising this action filled battle and then put it off :T I've also discovered that I am horrible at writing fight scenes.**

 **New P.O.V thing too! I'm trying out a different style of plot setting up where I jump to the future and sort of reveal a certain event. I kind of did that in a dream Astrid had in Chapter 10 I think it was, but only I really know the setting for that. This time, however... Well, you'll have to read to find out.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 12_**

 _Sometime in the future…_

"Hurry! Get him out!"

"Turn! Turn! Duck! Okay, okay… DIVE!"

"HELP!"

Yet another scream ripped the air as flames licked the wall of the village. It's surprising how much and how quickly a village with sandstone walls can burn. Wails and shouts and screams of pain and fright tore through the smoke filled sky. Though it was night, monsters stayed away, even the zombies, though their lust for villager flesh was high. All of them feared fire.

Except the Endermen.

With the teleportation they possessed, the Endermen wreaked havoc on the village. Anytime someone would put a section of the fire out, the tall, black monsters would swoop in and steal the blocks or block the water. No one dared attack them, for fear of provoking all of them.

In the center of the village, Astrid was astride Torch, a smaller, female water dragon at his side. Torch had grown a lot in the years, and he now towered over the buildings. Astrid was coughing, her hand over her mouth and her eyes streaming. But she couldn't give up the search. Her dragons and her friends were in there. She wasn't leaving. "Tidal Wave!" She shouted to the water dragon. "Put it out, if you can!"

 _"I'll try, but those stupid Endermen will just keep it going!"_ Tidal Wave responded, her turquoise eyes flashing. _"But… Wait, I know! I'll make it rain!"_ As she took off into the sky, Astrid heard one more worried and slightly annoyed remark, _"Where are the other water dragons when you need 'em?!"_

Astrid tipped her head back as rain started to fall. Tidal Wave was circling the village, water spraying from her mouth. Astrid looked down and opened her eyes, smelling charred sandstone, burnt wood, crops and cactus, and worst of all, the sickening scent of burned flesh. "Luka!" She shouted. "Yen! Seth! Mist! Rale! Claire!"

At the same time, she was calling her dragons. _"Frozen River! Lava!"_

" _Astrid, I think I smell Rale!"_ Torch's deep voice rumbled in her mind.

"Where?!"

Torch bounded off without another word, heading to the outskirts of the village. Sure enough, Rale was there, his navy blue hair and fur turned black between sooty sand, singing and smoke. His green eyes were wild as he tore at a collapsed building with his hands. "Astrid, Torch! Oh thank goodness! Tern is down there and I can't get him out!"

"We're on it!" Astrid replied immediately. "Stand back and let Torch do the heaving lifting!"

Rale hesitated, still tearing vainly at the stone. Finally, he leaped back, wiping a soot-stained, bloody hand across his brow. Astrid summersaulted off Torch's back and the huge fire dragon quickly set to work throwing stones.

The sandstone that had once made up this house was nearly singed beyond recognition. Chunks crumbled under the frantic fire dragon, its strength not able to hold against his. Finally, Torch rocked back onto his haunches and fluttered his singed wings. He tipped his head and backed away. Rale ran forward instantly and let out a chocked, coughing cry of relief at seeing his eldest son safe. "Tern!" He cried, leaping forward.

"Father!" Tern shouted, leaping into his father's arms. "Are the others okay?"

"Mostly." His father responded.

Astrid put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Get your kids and your wife and get out of here. Head through the trees until you see one of our dragons. One of them will lead you to our home. Don't look or turn back!"

"But—"

"Go!" Astrid snarled, cutting him off. "I won't see any more of my friends dead to this blasted fire!"

Rale hesitated and then gave a small nod. He sped off, Astrid watching him go for a few seconds before springing into Torch's saddle. "Run, Torch! Run like the wind! We've gotta find everyone else!" She shouted.

Before they could move, an explosion rocked the earth, followed by screams. New flames licked at the sky, though Tidal Wave's rain quickly put it out. A roar sounded next, and Astrid's heart leaped into her throat. That was Yen's fire dragon, Firebird. And she didn't sound happy.

Torch needed nothing from his trainer before he was in the air, speeding like a huge, red and orange arrow to the source of the roaring. As he got closer, he translated some of the roars. _"Yen's trapped. And he's hurt."_

"Oh, gods, no!" Astrid hissed, her heart thumping rapidly.

"Astrid!" She jumped at Luka's voice.

The spiky black haired trainer was covered head to toe in soot. His steel blue eyes were wide with fear, and they betrayed his growing exhaustion. He was riding Birch, and the huge forest dragon wasn't much better off. He was less covered in soot, but still covered in it. "Did you hear that?" Luka shouted.

"Yes!" Astrid shouted back, but her words were lost in the rushing wind of the two speeding dragons.

When they landed, Firebird was tearing at a collapsed building, her strokes getting more and more desperate with the little progress she made. Torch roared. _"Firebird! Move over!"_

Firebird looked up in shock, and Astrid was finally able to see how violently the slim fire dragon's chest was heaving. She growled something to Torch, who nodded and flicked his ear. Astrid scrambled off him, landing ungracefully on the ground as Torch shot forward to break through the sandstone. Birch was beside him a second late, while Firebird, her chest still heaving, paced restlessly behind them, her tail a whirlwind.

Astrid paced and paced, while Luka repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists. Another explosion ripped through the air, and panicked screams and roars sounded through the village. Suddenly, one of Astrid's dragons thumped down beside her, shooting forward to help out the others. It took her a minute to recognize Frozen River. The ice dragon was black with soot, her emerald green eyes narrowed in concentration. Her wings, claws, horns and spins, which usually glowed a bright ice blue in the moonlight where a dull, black-blue with the amount of soot on her.

"Frozen River, are you okay?!" Astrid shouted.

 _"I've been better."_ Frozen coughed. _"I got trapped under soot and sooty sand. Thankfully my head was clear. That last explosion helped get me free."_

It was then that Astrid saw the wide gash on her dragon's side. Before she could move, Luka's Ender dragon, Dark Storm, was suddenly in there too.

Firebird roared impatiently. Dark Storm snapped at her, causing the slim fire dragon to flare up. Torch paused in his digging long enough to silently settle the dispute in classic Torch fashion. He simply pushed them aside, glared at them both, and went back to his business. Finally, Astrid saw the problem. Obsidian. Somehow, obsidian had formed around Yen's prison, as she thought of it now.

A dry cackle made her duck her eyes. Endermen. Of course. They teleported obsidian here! Astrid slowly lifted her head to regard the monster without directly looking at it. It glared at her and then teleported away. A few seconds later, a shrill scream rent the air. The other nine Endermen joined him, and then they were gone, just like that.

 _"We need Lava and Misted Cloud!"_ Frozen River cried. _"We don't have enough power!"_

Firebird jumped in then, her swipes frantic, but surprisingly well aimed despite it. Luka jumped. "We'll find them!" He shouted, before sprinting in a random direction. Astrid passed a hand over her eyes and shot off in the opposite direction.

Rale and his family was safe, Claire was safe. Frozen River and Dark Storm were safe. Firebird was somewhat okay. Yen was possibly dying. That left Seth, Mist, Lava and Misted Cloud missing.

At the back of her mind, Astrid couldn't help but wonder…

 _Who had set the fire?_

 ** _Present day…_**

Astrid stood on the wall, her bow in her hand, an arrow nocked and ready to fire. She gazed out over the walls and the village below her. Everyone sported ears, a tail, fur and, in some cases, wings, and eyes according to their animal. The sun was just beginning to set as the final group arrived from under the church. Claire shook her head, long ashen hair turned fiery orange in the fading sunlight.

It had taken them less time than the ashen haired woman and Rale and expected to change everyone. Now the whole village, forty strong, counting the trainers and their dragons, looked a lot different. Astrid was still trying to get used to her heightened senses. She could smell the zombies in the forest, hear their moans and see them easier in the shadows of the trees. Or at least, she sometimes could. Barrages of scents, sounds and sights assaulted her. She could smell a lava pit near the base of a sand hill and the salty waves of the sea. She could smell the lush green of the forest and, very faintly, catch a whiff of the snow forest. She could hear the gently chatter of the river over the stones, the creak of wood and the rustle of leaves and grass. She could faintly see fish leaping out of the ocean and a solitary creeper vanishing behind the hill. The black haired young woman flicked her wolf like tail and sighed.

Everyone else was obviously having the same problem. Only the dragons were the same as always.

"It's nearly dark." Yen sniffed beside her.

Astrid merely grunted, taking some comfort in having the big, dusty blond man at her side. He was a master of the sword, and his bow skills weren't too shabby either. Plus, with the fighting and the work, the two had become rather good friends.

"We'll go on your signal." Someone cried up to her.

Astrid merely grunted again. She was lost in thoughts, trying to plan ahead for the battle. Yen called her name, but she barely heard him. Only when he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and gently shook her did she realize planning ahead was a stupid and costly mistake they couldn't afford. "Yes, sorry." She grunted as she came too.

"For a minute, I thought you were going to faint." Yen murmured, a note of worry in his eyes and voice.

"Lost in thought, that's all." Astrid shrugged.

Yen nodded and looked at the sky. "Time to go."

"Listen up!" Astrid called. "We fire as soon as the zombies emerge from the trees!"

The villagers cheered and moved into position. A flurry of creaks sounded as bows were drawn back. Astrid glared into the trees, crimson eyes flashing.

The zombies were not getting in here.

The defenses were quite admirable, actually. High packed ice walls surrounded the village, with a moat on either side. Soul sand surrounded both moats, and the block fog, which Luka coined as Ender Fog, wreathed around the moat. The cobblestone walls were high, allowing the archers a wonderful viewing area. Some archers were situated inside the ice wall, prepared to kill any spiders, spider jockeys or creepers.

As soon as it was dark, the zombie horde sprang into action. Moan and wails accompanied the shuffling sounds of their feet. As soon as an eighth of the zombies were out of the trees, the archers on both walls fired. All of them hit burst into flames.

Seth and his new apprentice, an eight year old boy by the name of Lance, had worked tirelessly to craft armor and weapons, and to enchant the armor, swords and bows. The miners had dug as quickly as possible to find as much iron and diamonds as they could. Astrid had helped Seth while Luke went off with the miners. They had obtained quite a haul of iron ore, and some diamonds. Astrid, Luke, Yen, Seth and two others now carried an enchanted diamond sword, which was all the diamonds they had.

The swords were quite fancy too. Seth had quite a stock of books to enchant things with, and even with all the enchanting he'd done, he still had a lot. The swords, diamond and iron alike, were all enchanted with Mending, Fire Aspect, Looting II, Knockback III and Smite. The bows on the other hand were enchanted with Flame III, Punch II, Knockback III, Mending and Power II. The armor was varied. Every piece of armor had Aqua Affinity, Mending and Thorns III. Each pair of boots had Feather Falling, Depth Strider and Projectile Protection. Every breastplate had Fire Protection. The pants all had Blast Protection and all the helmets had Protection. All in all, they were very well off.

The zombies and Husks where falling rapidly, but there were still a lot of them. When the skeletons joined the show, however, things got interesting. The village archer's had to race back and forth to avoid arrows while still aiming and firing. No one had died so far, and Astrid was bound and determined not to let that happen. Whenever anyone was badly hurt, they would retreat below, where a villager waiting would instantly take his or her place.

Skeletons with enchanted bows proved problematic. One had Knockback, and that nearly killed someone. She was able to dive for the wall before she fell off the edge, but it was a very close shave.

"Torch, Phoenix, Smoke, go!" Astrid shouted.

The two fire dragons rose into the air, but the Nether Dragon was nowhere to be seen. Torch and Phoenix, after a moments confusion, shook their heads and dived towards the horde, breathing fire over them. Astrid ground her teeth and cursed under her breath when Smoke didn't show, but she pushed it aside. Torch and Phoenix could handle setting the horde on fire.

As soon as the plants caught fire, she sent Rain Splash in to put it out. Then she called the dragons back and the archers took over once more.

The first death came when another enchanted arrow struck someone. The person was near Astrid, so close that the trainer could hear when the arrow struck the woman's flesh. A sickening, squelching thud sounded, and the woman let out a chocked gasp before tumbling off the wall. Her bow and stack of arrows was left on the wall. Astrid called to someone below, and whoever it was instantly raced up.

"Blast!" Astrid ground out as she fired another arrow. "I was hoping to get out of this without any casualties."

"No one can get out of a battle without casualties." Yen answered gently. "Even if they don't die in the battle."

Astrid saw the truth in his words and flashed him a brief smile. Yen returned in and the two went back to firing. Luka joined them a second later and the three rained fiery death down on the horde.

Everything was going great until a dry, menacing cackle sounded through the moans. Everything, even the dragons, froze and turned their gaze downward. For the Endermen had shown up, and one did not trifle with an Enderman.

More cackles sounded. Astrid suddenly realized there were ten different cackles. She cautiously raised her head to seek them out.

What she saw made her heart stop briefly and her breath catch in her throat.

 _Luka_

The battle had been going great. Sure aims were a little off with the different senses and all, but they'd been fine. So far, they'd lost one person. One.

And then the Endermen arrived.

Ten in total, they all regarded the villagers and the monsters with evil, glowing purple eyes. The dry cackle floated across the now deadly silent battlefield. Everything stood still. The horde stopped, the villagers stopped. Even the dragons stopped, though they could have ripped through them. They wouldn't have dared, however, because the Endermen would have turned on the villagers and the trainers.

Suddenly, on a silent command, the Endermen teleported forward. Luka ran to the wall and leaned over in horror, being careful not to look at the tall, black monsters directly.

 _The Endermen were ripping up the defenses._

Astrid was silent for a good few seconds, and then she wasted no time. "Archers in the Ice Wall, get out now!" She shouted, racing around the wall, her long black hair flying out behind her.

When the villagers in the wall had joined them, Astrid paced, gazing at the battlefield. Excited moans floated from the zombies as they saw the Endermen where on their side. Luka glared down at his feet. "What now?" He growled.

Astrid didn't answer, instead choosing to pace in tense silence. Yen stared at her helplessly, unsure of what to do. Seth ran up, panting, but his question froze on his lips when he saw his friend pacing. The blacksmith glanced at Luka helplessly and sighed.

It was when an arrow whizzed by her head that Astrid finally snapped to attention. She barked orders at the top of her voice, making sure to reach everyone on the wall. The orders were simple: Get down and get everyone, even the children, to the mine before the Endermen completely breached the ice wall. Once in the mine, the roof would be lowered to two blocks high so that, if the Endermen teleported in, they'd suffocate. Once everyone was safe, the six dragons would go up and destroy the Endermen and the horde.

Luka, Astrid, Seth and the other protectors ushered everyone down into the mine. As people filed down, Luka searched for his sister, and for Merk, but there was no sign of them. A chilling thought crossed his mind. _I haven't seen them since I came back up from becoming a Wolf-Changer._

Had that really been his and Astrid's siblings? Or was it a witch toying with them? Whatever the reason, Luka was bound and determined to talk it out with Astrid after the battle.

With the last of the villagers heading down the mine, Luka and Astrid gave their dragons their orders and sprinted after them. When they arrived, they found work on the ceiling already underway. Luka jumped straight in to help them while Astrid ran around to check on the wounded. The rest was a blur for him, a blur of stone and cobblestone as the ceiling was lowered.

When the blur finally ended, Luka found himself standing by the now one block wide entrance to the mine, his bow in his hand and an arrow knocked. A tense silence filled the air. No child cried, and the injured tried desperately not to groan in pain.

Nothing of the fight being waged above could be heard. Being at Bedrock meant they couldn't hear anything on the surface. No one could tell if it was raining or if it was a thunderstorm. Some of the sharper eared folks thought they heard explosions, but none could be sure.

"I hate this." Yen growled as he and Seth moved up to stand by Luka. Seth took a position on the other side of the door.

"I know." Seth agreed. He had an uncharacteristic frown on his face. "I keep thinking about the dragons."

Luka swallowed nervously. "They're dragons. They'll be okay. Endermen don't hold a candle to a dragon."

"You don't sound convinced." Yen answered, his bright blue eyes glaring out the doorway.

"I think that comes from having my two dragons out there." Luka grunted. He fiddled with the edge of his bow. "We have no idea if they've won or lost." He paused. "Scratch that. We have no idea if they've won. We'll know if they've lost. Astrid and I… We'll feel them if they die." He gulped nervously.

Seth reached over and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Like you said, Luke. They'll be fine."

"Luke" was now Luka's nickname among his closest friends. The trainer sighed. "I hope your right."

"Where's the Luka I know?" Yen asked, giving his friend a concerned look. "You usually aren't this worried about anything."

Luka bit his lip and didn't answer. Seth sighed. "I understand, buddy. You're worried. Any trainer would be."

"Astrid sure doesn't show it." Yen blinked.

In perfect sync, the three of them glanced over their shoulders to find their friend. She was sitting next to a wounded villager, listening as he told a story. Luka was the first to look away, and it took him a minute to realize Yen was slowly tearing his gaze away. The trainer smirked and gently poked his friend in the ribs with his elbow. Yen instantly caught on, turning a bright shade of red before shaking his head.

He and Luka and become fast friends the moment they'd met. They had been up to many an adventure in the desert. Seth had accompanied him on some occasions, but not many. Of the three, he was the more mature, having had a kid.

"You like her." Luka smirked, his worries fading slightly.

"W-well. She's a strong fighter and woman and—and pretty." Yen stammered. He knew there was no point in hiding it from his two friends.

Seth laughed quietly while Luka just smugly smirked and swung an arm over the dusty blond protector's shoulders. After a few moments, they calmed down. Luka waited desperately for news from one of the dragons.

* * *

 **And there we go. Chapter 12. I didn't want just action in here. I felt Luka needed a little bonding time with two of his close friends, so that's where the end came from... Though I still had to keep it kind of tense. Also in the ending... more plot stuff! I just realized, I'm setting up plot wile keeping it action packed. Never thought I'd manage THAT.**

 **I also want to give a big shoutout to SiRoLoL for the idea of the Enderman. You, my friend, really helped me get this chapter interesting. Thanks, Siro! ^-^**

 **QotD1: Where do you think Merk, Kestral and their dragons are?**

 **QotD2: In the future scene, who do you think set the fire?**


End file.
